BALDWIN CITY, Kan. — The pastor of New Life Assembly of God in Baldwin City and director of Heart of America Teen Challenge near Lawrence, Kansas is furious after an encounter with law enforcement Thursday.
The pastor said the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office showed up at both locations, unannounced, where they stayed for several hours before presenting a search warrant.
“I refused to answer them. I basically said you know what, I’m not going to answer those, you get a court order and we’ll discuss this," said Mark Halford, Pastor of New Life Assembly of God.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said they’re investigating a case of child neglect and endangerment. Allegations the pastor is calling ridiculous.
“What the complaint is that a student was not given medical attention, and so they started taking things that were totally unrelated to anything," said Halford.
Sgt. Kristen Channel gave the sheriff's department's official version of events to 41 Action News on Friday:
"The Douglas County Sheriff's Office is currently investigating a report of child neglect and endangerment that occurred in Douglas County. As part of that investigation, the Sheriff's Office executed search warrants yesterday (12/28) at the New Life Assembly of God church in Baldwin at 118 Fifth St. and at a residence in the 1300 Blk of E1600 Rd. The church's legal counsel was at the church at the time the warrants were served. Because this is an ongoing investigation, I cannot release any other information at this time."
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