ROCK HILL, S.C. – A Rock Hill minister has been charged with a committing a lewd act with a child and illegally practicing medicine for allegedly "examining" and touching a young boy's genitalia.
Reverend Johnny "Bill" Cabe also faces a charge contributing to the delinquency of a minor. An arrest warrant says he gave the child a SIM card for a cell phone to maintain communication with him after the boy's mother had tried to stop it.
The child, now 11, was 10 when the alleged abuse began. At least some of it happened at Riverside Baptist Church, where Rev. Cabe is listed as pastor. According to the arrest warrant, Cabe had offered child care to the boy's mother.
This is the third time York County has made similar allegations against Rev. Cabe.
He was acquitted of a series of charges that alleged inappropriate behavior with boys in 1993. Another set of charges in 1999 came because boys accused the pastor of performing inappropriate hernia checks on them, but those charges were dropped.
At that same time, Cabe was accused of and convicted on federal charges of fraud and money laundering.
Prosecutors said he talked members of his church into giving millions of dollars to a bad investment fund that he called “His Way Ministries.”
Cabe said he he didn't know the fund was bad.
He went to federal prison. The alleged abuse in this most recent case began shortly after he got out.
Efforts to reach Cabe were unsuccessful after he posted a $12,000 bond.
His daughter Joy wrote reporter Beth Shayne an email that stated, "Just know that we stick to the fact that he is innocent, and we will defend him until the end.'
The conditions of his bond specify that he is not to have contact with the child, who is a member of his church. A message left on the church voicemail was not returned.
