KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Izzy Davis said she was 12 years old when she was allegedly groomed by Bobby Hawk, her pastor at the time, who was also the Blue Springs Board of Education President.
KSHB 41's Caitlin Knute spoke with Davis on Thursday, the same day Hawk was put on leave as a pastor at Epic Church KC, and police confirmed they were investigating allegations against Hawk.
Davis said she decided to go public with her story after finding out Hawk was running for re-election for the school board.
On Wednesday, the Blue Springs School District confirmed Hawk resigned from his position as school board president.
Since coming forward, Davis said she's heard from other women who said they also experienced similar behavior from Hawk.
Still, Davis said she felt a sense of relief after receiving an outpouring of support once she shared her story.
"There's definitely relief with the response I've gotten because there's always the feeling that with my situation, one, people wouldn't believe it, or two, not think anything of it," Davis said. "But everyone has emphasized they believed me and validated how horrible of a behavior it is."
Davis also spoke on what it was like to come forward to her parents.
"After three years, he was running for re-election, and my parents had his campaign sign in our yard," she said. "And I remember one day they came home from church and they were talking about him and something Bobby had told them about certain speaking out against him on the school board, and my parents were like, 'It's wrong, we need to support him and all this stuff.'"
Davis said that was the final straw for her.
"And I just piped up; I was in the kitchen, [I said], 'I don't think he should be on the school board,' and they were like, 'Why?,' because I had never told them anything like that before," she said. "So I told them what he had done, and they kind of froze for a while. Then my mom got really upset and angry; she was sad; she was crying."
Davis confirmed she has been in contact with police, who took her statement.
She said it was for an informational report and police told her they could form a case after hearing testimony from other people.
Davis said she has also contacted the governing board that Epic Church KC is affiliated with.
KSHB 41 is not sharing more details on the allegations at this time because there's been no charges brought against Hawk and due to the ongoing police investigation.
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