Sept. 14 – GREENVILLE – An Atlantic man has been accused of having inappropriate contact with a girl who attended the church in Greenville where he previously served as pastor.
David E. Cox, 58, was charged Sept. 9 by Greenville police with bribery of minors, criminal solicitation to assault a person under 16, unlawful contact with a minor, and criminal solicitation to tamper with or fabricate physical evidence.
Cox, who is free on $50,000 bond, allegedly tried to encourage the girl to meet him alone because he wanted to hold and kiss her, police said in court documents.
The girl was 14-16 at the time – between 2019 and 2021.
Police say the investigation began in December, when the girl’s mother told police her daughter had had inappropriate contact with a man.
As the woman was cleaning the girl’s room, she found several handwritten notes hidden in a Bible. She questioned her daughter, who said the notes were written by David Cox, pastor of the First Baptist Church at the time.
The girl told police she gave Cox notes complimenting him on the messages he preached during church services.
She also attended private therapy sessions with Cox. These sessions took place in Cox’s office at her company, Greenville Tire, the girl told police.
Cox’s notes became increasingly inappropriate and evolved into late-night texts and phone calls, she said.
Cox told the girl to delete the messages, which he signed “Love ME”.
In a message, he wrote that he wanted to hold her for a long time and snuggle up on the couch while watching a movie. He asked if she would be interested in meeting at a prayer retreat.
When Cox spoke to police, he initially said he wasn’t sure he had written the letters, but later said he “probably” did.
He agreed that the content of the letters was inappropriate and said he would be alarmed if anyone wrote such letters to his daughter.
When asked why he told the girl to delete the text messages, Cox replied that it “seemed wrong” that they were exchanging the messages.
In a second interview with police, the girl said Cox asked to kiss her while she was talking in a therapy session.
She was shocked and ignored the question, which she said made her very uncomfortable. He didn’t kiss her, she said.
Cox was arraigned Sept. 9 by District Judge Brian Arthur, Greenville. His preliminary hearing is set for October 4 at 2 p.m. with Arthur.
First Baptist Church leaders released a statement Wednesday afternoon on the church’s Facebook page to say they were “disturbed and gravely disappointed” by the allegations against Cox.
Church leaders said they were not aware of any wrongdoing or wrongdoing towards any youth in the church during Cox’s tenure and encouraged anyone else who experienced it to come forward. and contact the authorities.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This information comes from police reports. All suspects should be considered innocent until proven guilty in court.
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