Jamaican pastor arrested on sex charges in New York

Jamaica-born Brooklyn-based pastor, Reverend Edward-Richard Hinds, has been arrested by New York police on sex crime charges.

The charges, unsealed in the Brooklyn Supreme Court yesterday, accuse Hinds of third degree rape and having sex with an underage male minor.

According to information reaching The Gleaner, Hinds migrated to the United States in 2010. The divorced father is reportedly from the Grants Pen community in St Andrew.

Hinds has been indicted on sex abuse charges for an inappropriate relationship with a teenager, law enforcement sources told The Daily News.

The pastor, who is executive director of the 67th Precinct Clergy Council, known as 'The GodSquad', appeared yesterday afternoon in Brooklyn Supreme Court where the indictment was reportedly disclosed.

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A special prosecutor from the Staten Island district attorney's office said the charges related to an incident in 2022, with law enforcement claiming Hinds and a 16-year-old male performed sexual acts on each other on Christmas Eve.

Hinds is the youth pastor at the Rugby Deliverance Tabernacle on Snydner Avenue in Brooklyn.

The GodSquad holds some US$10.5 million in contracts with city agencies and Hinds has been involved in multiple programmes launched by Mayor Eric Adams' administration.

- Lester Hinds