HOUSTON (AP) – A former Southern Baptist pastor who supported legislation in Texas this year that would have criminalized abortions has been arrested on charges of child sex abuse.
Court records show that Stephen Bratton posted a $50,000 bond Saturday. The Houston Chronicle reports that 43-year-old Bratton is accused of molesting a teenage relative, sometimes multiple times a day, over a two-year period.
It isn’t clear whether Bratton has an attorney. The Associated Press couldn’t locate a phone number for him Sunday.
Bratton was a pastor at Grace Family Baptist Church near Houston. He was outspoken in support of a bill that would have abolished abortions in Texas and threatened charging women who undergo the procedure with homicide.
Aaron Wright, another pastor at the church, says Bratton has been excommunicated.
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