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Assistant Pastor Arrested For Alleged Abuse

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Sep 2, 2009 5:25 pm US/Mountain

Assistant Pastor Arrested For Alleged Abuse

Written by Brian Maass

Reporting
Brian Maass
E-mail

MORRISON, Colo. (CBS4) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 3: Jason Smoker
Jefferson County Sheriff's Office
Click to enlarge 2 of 3: Daniel Brock
CBS
Click to enlarge 3 of 3: Visit the CBS4 Investigates section.

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Jefferson County authorities have arrested the assistant pastor of Red Rocks Baptist Church in Morrison, accusing Jason Smoker of abusing a developmentally disabled volunteer by blindfolding him and dumping trash on him.

Smoker turned himself in to Jefferson County law enforcement last Friday and was charged with neglect of an at risk victim.

According to court documents obtained by CBS4, the incident occurred on Aug. 27, 2008. It's unclear why it took a year to file formal criminal charges. An affidavit in the case reports that Smoker asked a developmentally disabled to volunteer at the church to clean a school bus prior to a church outing. But Smoker believed the young man did an "unsatisfactory" job cleaning the bus.

According to the affidavit, Smoker then "placed an item around his (victim's) head, covering his eyes, that was described as possibly a -shirt that was tied in a knot to keep it on ... (the victim's) head. Pastor Smoker had (the victim) lay down on the ground near the bus and dumped trash on top of him that was apparently taken from the bus trash cans.(The victim) said the trash didn't hurt him physically but did emotionally."

A Jefferson County investigator reported another assistant pastor, Ben Klaus, confirmed what had happened and said he told Smoker in advance "he didn't think it was an effective way to discipline."

The affidavit goes on to quote the church's senior pastor, Dr. Les Heinze, who "views the actions of Pastor Smoker as completely unacceptable and Pastor Smoker displayed a lack of judgment for his current capacity of employment as an assistant pastor. Pastor Smoker was placed on probationary status."

CBS4 attempted to contact the school's spokesperson Wednesday afternoon but a call was not returned.

It is not the first recent problem for Red Rocks Baptist Church and its affiliated school, Silver State Christian. The school's principal, Daniel Brock, has been fired and is facing charges he allegedly fondled several male students. Brock entered a plea of not guilty to those charges earlier this week. He is scheduled to go on trial next February.

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