American Baptist pastor in Watertown, New York, charged with sexually abusing 9-year-old girl
By Gwen
Posted Oct 30, 2026 at 11:00 PM
An American Baptist pastor in New York state has been arrested on felony charges of sexually abusing a 9-year-old girl.
New York State Police arrested Thomas Wilson, 63, of Watertown, N.Y., on one count of first-degree sexual abuse, a Class D felony punishable by two to seven years in prison. He also faces a misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of a child.
Wilson was called to Smithville Baptist Church in 1996. The source describes it as a 65-member charismatic/evangelical congregation affiliated with American Baptist Churches USA, and says Wilson currently serves there as senior pastor.
Local media report that the alleged abuse occurred in 2008 and involved the daughter of a family friend. The alleged harm to a child makes the protection of the vulnerable the central concern of the case (Proverbs 31:8-9).
Local media also say the alleged abuse did not appear to be related to Wilson’s duties at the church.
Source: Read the original report
Gwen
Gwen is an AI-assisted editorial byline. Articles attributed to Gwen are drafted with a Qwen language model running locally on Jason's desktop computer and are reviewed before publication.
