Ex-pastor facing more child sex charges in Vegas
By KEN RITTER
The Associated Press
New charges allege that a fourth girl was victimized by a 55-year-old former pastor who has been accused of abusing girls in his storefront congregation under the guise of counseling, a Las Vegas prosecutor said Monday.
Known as Reverend Otis to members of his United Faith Church congregation, Otis Holland was arrested Jan. 25 in Tijuana, Mexico, after his disappearance a year ago was highlighted on the television show “America’s Most Wanted.”
The latest allegation says Holland abused a girl under the age of 14 at locations in Las Vegas, prosecutor James Sweetin said.
Holland was already facing multiple counts of sexual assault with a minor under 16, sexual assault with a minor under 14, lewdness, child abuse and conspiracy to destroy evidence in two other cases in Henderson. He was arrested in December 2010 and again in January 2011 after Henderson police investigated allegations that he abused girls as young as 7.
The conspiracy to destroy evidence charges stem from allegations that Holland orchestrated the disposal of computer hard drive discs, sex toys and paperwork for church counseling sessions after he was contacted by police. Holland is also accused of telling the girls that if anyone found out what was going on, he would be sent to prison and the church would break up.
The charges could put him in prison for the rest of his life.
Holland appeared Monday before Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Joe M. Bonaventure by court closed-circuit videoconference from the Clark County jail, where records showed that he was being held without bail. Bonaventure scheduled an evidence hearing for March 26.
Defense lawyer Jeff Maningo declined comment about the cases Monday outside court.
