Fred McCoy Gammon Jr., an Oklahoma pastor accused of sending several sexually suggestive text messages to a minor, including an alleged desire to “smell her underwear,” has been charged with child sexual abuse but insists he is innocent.
Gammon, 42, who leads Wayside Assembly of God in Wyandotte, is now free on $35,000 bail, KSN reported.
His criminal defense lawyer, Jeremy Bennett of the law firm Bennett Gallon, told The Christian Post on Wednesday morning that his client, who is married with two young daughters, according to his Facebook page, denies the allegations.
“All I can tell you is that Mr. Gammon maintains his innocence and he’s not going to make any comments and I can’t make any comments while there’s pending litigation,” Bennett told CP.
An affidavit of probable cause filed in the Ottawa County District Court alleges that Gammon sent the sexually suggestive and inappropriate text messages from his cell phone to the minor.
He allegedly texted her messages such as “Oh, I mean it, you are like a fire to me” and “You are hot” along with the one conveying his desire to smell her underwear.
His wife, Tonya, also allegedly told investigators that he told her that “he was being convicted by God and he needed to let her know that he saw (the juvenile victim) in a different light now and he hopes she can forgive him as a wife.”
The affidavit said the pastor’s wife forgave him but noted that his alleged behavior “hurt her.”
Calls made to the church, which has deactivated its social media accounts, went unanswered Wednesday. No one at the national Assemblies of God office immediately responded to messages from CP seeking to verify if Gammon is still leading Wayside Assembly of God.
Earlier this month, Gammon’s mother, Donna Campbell Gammon, revealed in a post in a public Facebook group called The Coffee Stop, that she was grieving and angry and asked members to pray for her son. She did not reveal what was causing her distress.
“To all my friends and family and anyone concerned. Fred Gammon and I need prayer I'm not allowed to speak about it right now but I have been on my knees in prayer since Thursday,” she wrote on Feb. 6. “I have never cried so much as I have for the last few days. I need someone that cares to help me pray. I'm greeved (sic) in my spirit angry and trying to do the right thing. I feel so alone and I need y'all to pray victory over the situation in our lives. I asked again please pray!”
She further revealed early Wednesday morning that she planned to close and delete the group because of “wicked” allegations being posted about her son.
“There has been some wicked acquisitions (sic) posted in The Coffee Stop about Fred,” she said. “I do not know the people or where they came from but none of that's true. To put a stop to this madness I have two (sic) close and delete the coffee stop which breaks my heart.”
He's innocent, but his wife forgave him and his mother has asked for prayers for herself and her son because she's so angry.....truly sickening what these fools get away with.
Pastors are among the most vile and dangerous humans on the planet. Pseudo education in “Christian” universities with degrees in Calvinism, Zwinglianism and Sola Scriptura based doctrine creates the perfect environment for these narcissist, megalomaniacs to rule over and abuse their congregations.
I feel sorry for those people who cannot see pastors for the charlatans that they are. This guy needs a taste of his God’s punitive discipline. May his angry god reach out with wrath and fury.
When you turn your pastor to some kind of gods things like tend to happen,if you're a believer ,you should be smart with it ,..don't get carry away that pastor man of GOD or whatever they call themselves are people like us,the different are the title/name
Hope he gets cranial lead poisoning.
dogs(gods) always smell each other’s private parts!!!
While religious leaders continue to rack up sex crimes, republican run legislators ignore that and attack children for their internal and natural rumblings.
What's more, they are likely to win in states like OK. Human extinction can't come fast enough for me.
@OldMetalHead I do my best to get along but now that I'm retired and alone I have zero incentive to go further than that. It's a luxury to speak my mind without fear of who's bothered and I'm thankful for it.
@BOBdammit In physical life I am also able to make a face which brings humor to my statements but this does not happen in text form. Therefore, my statements are taken with greater authority than they should muster. Shrug. I still don't care. As Robin Williams said, on Reality, What A Concept, "Sometimes I got to tell them, Tony."