With just a week to go before former pastor Scott Sechrist was to stand trial for molesting an underage girl in Bristol Township, he killed himself inside his Red Cedar, Levittown home.
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
The 61-year-old left a suicide note in which he proclaimed his innocence, a source close to the case said. Bristol Township police Lt. Terry Hughes confirmed Sechrist killed himself but said he could not comment on the suicide note.
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Police and detectives responded to Sechrist’s home Monday afternoon and took the note as evidence.
The girl, now a woman in her 30s, first reported the molestation in 1992 but charges were not filed until recently, according to court papers. Journalist Jo Ciavaglia tweeted from a preliminary hearing that the woman recanted the sex abuse allegations in 1992.
Reports said tapes of a man identified as Sechrist speaking about molestation were played in court at a preliminary hearing
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According to police, the woman told a detective recently that Sechrist began sexually assaulting her by grabbing her butt. He reportedly told her it was “cute” when she was in fifth grade inside a Bristol Township home. The assaults continued and even happened during evening prayer sessions that lasted for 10 to 15 minutes.
Authorities allege Sechrist’s behavior escalated to intercourse.
The alleged molestation stepped up when Sechrist and the girl began to have more alone time, police said.
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The woman recently relayed to detectives the assaults happened multiple times a week for two years, police said.
The behavior between the girl and Sechrist only stopped when the incident were reported when the girl was 12 years old.
Sechrist was the pastor at a Baptist church in Morrisville Borough and knew the girl’s family.
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The prosecutor court papers show was assigned to the case did not return calls and an email seeking comment.
