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Former Bellevue Baptist Student Pastor pleads not guilty
to child sex abuse charges in Arkansas
Author: Kim Chaney, KFSM Staff
Published: 3:25 PM CDT October 4, 2022
Updated: 5:11 PM CDT October 4, 2022
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A former Student Pastor at Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual indecency with a child in Arkansas.
According to Benton County, Arkansas, jail records, Keenan Hord, 32, was arrested Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022, on a warrant issued out of Bentonville, Arkansas. He faces eight counts of sexual assault, three counts of distributing, possession or viewing matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child, and sexual indecency with a child. He is being held on a $500,000 bond in Benton County Jail.
According to Bentonville Police, they received an Arkansas State Police child abuse hotline notification initiated by First Baptist Church on Aug. 19, 2022. Investigators said that led to a search warrant for a residence in Bentonville that same day.
The warrant for sexual indecency with a child for Hord was issued on Aug. 23, and he was arrested in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Aug. 25.
According to court records, during a hearing on Friday, Aug. 26, it was revealed that through images on Hord's computer, investigators believe there could be 30 or more potential victims.
Bentonville Police ask that anyone with information on this investigation call them at 479-271-3170.
Former Buddhist monk sentenced for further historic
child sexual abuse on 12 y/o girls
14:55 23/09/2022
Sussex Police
A former Buddhist monk has been convicted of further historic sexual offences committed against a girl in Sussex and a girl in Nottinghamshire.
Koji Takeuchi, formerly Buddha Maitreya, was convicted in 2020 for sexually abusing a young girl in Brighton in the 1970s and early 1980s.
The 82-year-old was already serving a four-year prison sentence for the sexual offences against the girl over several years.
Following that conviction, two victims came forward separately to Sussex Police to report what had happened to them.
On Wednesday, September 21, Takeuchi appeared before Hove Crown Court where he admitted sexual offences committed against them.
The first was a girl aged 12 in Brighton during the 1970s, where Takeuchi admitted two charges of indecent assault.
He also admitted indecent assault upon a then 12-year-old girl in Nottinghamshire in the 1980s.
His Honour Judge Jeremy Gold KC said Takeuchi had abused a position of trust in order to carry out the offences.
Detective Constable Stewart Cameron from Sussex Police’s Safeguarding Investigation Unit in Brighton led the new investigation.
He said: “Takeuchi travelled around the country teaching meditation. He also owned a set of Japanese gardens in Nottinghamshire which regularly featured on television programmes and was visited by thousands of people each year.
“But he used these to hide the sexual abuse he carried out on young girls. He ingratiated himself with their families in order to gain their trust to carry out the crimes.”
Takeuchi, formerly of Trent Lane, North Clifton near Newark, Nottinghamshire, was already serving a custodial sentence, and is a registered sex offender for life.
The judge further sentenced him to a further two years in prison in total for the subsequent victims. Takeuchi will remain on the sex offenders register for life, and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order will continue to be in place to restrict his access to children upon his release.
DC Cameron added: “Takeuchi had a devastating impact on the lives of his young victims. After his first conviction, they showed courage to come forward and report the abuse that happened to them.
“This investigation demonstrates that we will always follow up reports made by victims, regardless of how long ago the events are said to have occurred, to support them and to seek justice for them wherever possible.”
Further information and support about reporting historic sexual abuse are available online.
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