Church charges plague EC teen

By Barry Porterfield
Staff Writer

July 01, 2008 12:22 pm

— Just days after taking a plea agreement on a series of forgeries from an area church an Elmore City teenager is now facing more hot water from above after he made hallowed ground a target once again.
This time the charge against 19-year-old Nate Christian is burglary after he was first spotted by the pastor and later caught after hours by a trio of police officers in PV’s First Presbyterian Church.
A couple of weeks ago Christian submitted guilty pleas to seven counts of forgery after he stole church checks from his grandmother, who served as the treasurer at the Katie Missionary Baptist Church.
He deposited 10 forged checks totaling more than $7,000 and later withdrew the money from a PV bank.
The plea agreement resulted in Christian receiving a deferred sentence and court orders to pay restitution.
Now he faces a single count of second-degree burglary after he was arrested June 25 in the local church located in the 300 block of North Walnut, which happens to be only a few yards from both the PV police and county sheriff’s department.
This new case began when officers responded to a late night call of a possible burglary in progress.
It came after the pastor, Rev. Tom Busby, who lives next door to his church, saw the shades pulled down in his own office, which are normally left up.
Busby also reported finding some type of tool on the church steps and an emergency push bar on a door jammed, making it accessible from the outside.
The pastor raised some suspicion about Christian since he had been doing some yard work for the church earlier in the day.
Three officers with weapons drawn went to the pastor’s office and found Christian hiding inside, where he was quickly taken into custody.
They also found the pastor’s computer on, which when the monitor was turned back on displayed pornographic web sites. Evidence also indicated someone had attempted to print off some of the images shown on the screen.
Piecing the clues together police later concluded Christian, once finished with his yard work, had gained entry into the church building by a janitor.
He is reported to have used a piece of a phone book to block the door allowing him to re-enter later in the day.
Authorities also believe Christian broke into the locked office by using a screwdriver as the motive appears to be his desire to access the computer.
Officers reported the suspect turned off the computer monitor and hid in the office after they entered the building and began to shout out commands to anyone inside.
During his initial court appearance on the new criminal charge Christian was handed a $20,000 bond.
Court records also show Christian pleaded guilty in February to unlawful entry and shoplifting charges. In that case he was also given a deferred sentence.