A disgraced pastor from Alamance County, Jeffrey Duane Smith, fled after allegedly groping a man‘s genitals in a local Walmart.
The Mebane Police Department reported that on Monday, officers responded to the Walmart at 1318 Mebane Oaks Road and took 67-year-old Jeffrey Duane Smith, the pastor of Mebane Presbyterian Church, into custody. He faces a charge of misdemeanor sexual battery.
Pastor Jeffrey Smith sexual assault victim in restroom
Arrest warrants obtained by local media indicate that Smith approached the victim in the men’s restroom and forcibly touched him through his clothing. Police later apprehended Smith in the woods behind a Sheetz gas station, according to the warrants. The pastor was booked into the Alamance County Detention Center on Monday and subsequently released on a $3,000 bail.
Smith has served as the pastor at Mebane Presbyterian Church for 25 years, according to the church’s website.
