Midlands Pastor and Wife Arrested for Alleged Church Fund Misuse

Columbia pastor Barry L. Spears and his wife Jeri B. Spears have been arrested on fraud charges after allegedly misusing church funds. Authorities stated that receipts and other documents show the misappropriation of church funds dates back to 2018. The charges came after a complainant contacted Richland County Sheriff’s Department investigators regarding the pastor of his church misusing church funds.

The complainant told investigators that Barry L. Spears, the pastor of his church, had been accepting donations through the unnamed church’s nonprofit status and was using the parishioners’ donations to pay personal bills, according to the news release from the sheriff’s department. Further investigation found that Barry L. Spears and his wife, Jeri B. Spears, had stolen more than $200,000 of the church’s money and were spending it on personal items, such as a motorcycle, made payments on a BMW, vehicle insurance and other unapproved items.

Social media posts show that Barry L. Spears was removed as the pastor of SonRise Baptist Church on Alpine Road in Columbia several months ago. The church appears to have changed its name to Hilltop Baptist in August, per posts on its Facebook page. A June 2 Facebook post addressed to the family and friends of SonRise stated that a three-year engagement conducted by The Hobbs Group of Columbia, SC, found a lack of institutional control concerning church finances, no accountability, no checks and balances to guard against fraud, and numerous unauthorized expenditures paid from church funds.

The post said funding from another ministry was also being rerouted into the church’s account and then converted for personal use. “Barry and DeeDee Spears were the only individuals on the church accounts during this time period and had complete control of the church finances,” the post from June 2 said.

Arrest warrants for Barry L. Spears and Jeri B. Spears were obtained on Sept. 28. They turned themselves in the following day and were transported to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center. Barry L. Spears is charged with violations of the Computer Crime Act, forgery and breach of trust with fraudulent intent.

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