Former pastor pleads no contest in three child sex assault cases
A former pastor of a Springhill Township church could spend up to six years in prison for sexually assaulting three young girls after pleading no contest to the charges in Fayette County Court on Monday.
Ray Teets, 66, of Uniontown, faced dozens of charges in three separate cases, some of which were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
Teets, represented by attorney Jeremy Davis, pleaded no contest to 11 counts of corruption of minors, five counts of indecent assault of persons under the age of 13, three counts of luring children into a vehicle, unlawful restraint, interference with the custody of a child and concealment of the whereabouts of a child.
Police said Teets began having sexual encounters with young girls beginning in June 1999.
In one case, police said, Teets made inappropriate contact with a girl when she was 7 or 8 years old in 1999 or 2000 at Fallen Timbers Community Church, where he worked as the pastor.
In the second case, police alleged Teets sexually assaulted two girls at various times when they were between the ages of 7 and 13 years old at locations in Georges Township. Those encounters occurred between December 2005 and September, police said.
At one point in 2006, the inappropriate behavior was witnessed by an adult, who ordered Teets from the location; however, he made several additional trips to see the children and engaged in similar behavior over the coming years, police alleged.
Charges in the third case stemmed from an improper relationship Teets had with an 11-year-old girl in November while he was a pastor at the same church.
Teets will be sentenced before Senior Judge Gerald R. Solomon at a later date, pending an evaluation by the state Sexual Offender Assessment Board.