Police: NH Pastor Failed To Register As Sex Offender

Yahoo News reports:

A New Hampshire man who police said was working as a pastor at a Georgetown church owned by his wife has been charged with failure to register as a sex offender in Massachusetts. Steven Newman, 56, was arraigned July 13 in Haverhill District Court on the charge.

Police said Newman is registered in New Hampshire as a “Tier 3” sex offender, the highest level of sex offender listed in New Hampshire, police said, and that Newman should have registered in Massachusetts, as he was employed in this state.

According to a Georgetown police report, Newman’s New Hampshire criminal convictions include aggravated felonious sexual assault on a person under 18 on July 1, 1999, aggravated sexual assault on a person under 13 on Sept. 14, 2000, and failure to report as a sex offender, also on Sept. 14, 2000.

The Essex Eagle-Tribune reports:

Evidence of Newman’s employment as a pastor included numerous photos on the church website and its Facebook page of Newman at the church with captions indicating he was the pastor, police said.

Police said that on April 23, they revisited the church’s website, which they said had been scrubbed of all information indicating Newman was the pastor.

The church’s Facebook page had also been altered, police said, noting it has previously shown images of Newman participating in several other events in Georgetown, including “Coffee with Pastor Steve” being held on Tuesdays.

The victim in the 1999 case was eight years old.