Associate pastor at inner-city Regina chapel charged with possessing child pornography
An associate pastor at Good News Chapel in north central Regina has been charged with possessing child pornography, police say.
Kirk Andrew Custer, 33, was charged on Wednesday, following an investigation by the Saskatchewan internet child exploitation (ICE) unit, according to a Thursday news release from the Saskatoon Police Service.
The unit executed a search warrant at a Regina home and seized electronic devices, the release said, and Custer was charged with one count of possession of child pornography.
The Alliance Canada, the group in which Good News Chapel is a member church, says Custer was suspended the following day.
"There was no, to our knowledge, contact with the children — certainly not in a ministerial capacity," said Barrie Doyle, a spokesperson with The Alliance Canada.
Doyle said the organization is still trying to get more information on the allegation and protect its church members, but to also respect Custer's presumption of innocence.
"Everybody needs to be protected. Everybody needs to know that the right things are being done, and they will be done," he said.
Doyle added that nothing turned up in criminal record checks done before Custer joined the ministry.
Custer was arrested and released with conditions, police said. He returns to court Nov. 1.
