A former pastor of a Baltimore megachurch indicted earlier this year on child sex abuse charges was captured this week in Florida.
Eric Anderson, 80, is currently being detained without the possibility of bail in Manatee County. He is contesting his extradition to Massachusetts, where the Greater Grace World Outreach church, the site of the alleged abuse, was located at the time. This information was reported by the Baltimore Banner.
Anderson had been residing in Virginia with his son, Jesse Anderson, prior to his arrest in Florida. Jesse was previously found guilty of abusing a boy at the same church but did not serve a prison sentence. Massachusetts State Police detectives were able to locate Eric Anderson using license plate reader technology, the Banner reported.
He faces two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14.
An indictment was issued four months ago following a Banner investigation that uncovered many years of sexual abuse and concealment at the church, formerly called The Bible Speaks. The article featured accounts from accuser Erika Slater, who alleged multiple abuse incidents by Anderson in the spring of 1980, when she was a first grader and he was the school principal.
After the Banner’s investigative series was released, Slater traveled to Massachusetts to lodge a police report last summer. She expressed her relief to the Banner that Anderson is being held without the option of bail.
While the Berkshire County District Attorney’s Office has not verified that the charges against Anderson directly stem from Slater’s report, they did confirm that the alleged incidents occurred in 1980, as reported by WJZ.
Anderson did not respond to the newspaper’s request for comment, but his wife had previously said he called the allegations “total garbage.”
After the Banner’s series was published, the church initiated an “independent investigation” into the allegations. They issued a statement urging anyone with relevant information regarding Anderson to contact the church or the Berkshire County District Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts, according to their update.
According to MinistryWatch, the church previously revoked the credentials of two of its pastors in April as a result of the investigations.
