13 WTHRFormer pastor faces bigamy charges

Former pastor faces bigamy charges

Steve Jefferson/Eyewitness News

Indianapolis - A former pastor is facing two counts of felony bigamy, and the investigation is far from over.

Spencer K. Osborne, 36, who has two wives, was arrested Sunday, police said Monday. He was being held in jail Monday on $15,000 bond.

After Spencer Osborne's initial court hearing Monday, Hope Osborne told reporters she knew nothing about her husband's other wife.

"He was married to two separate women. The prosecutor's office is aware of that," said Chris Wilburn, IMPD spokesperson.

Osborne is the former pastor of Loving Missionary Baptist Church on West Roache Street off Martin Luther King.

"That was really shocking," said Deacon Donald Fuqua.

Fuqua says learning the alleged bigamist is a convicted sex offender just adds fuel to the fire.

"It was bad enough what he was already doing. To molest a child that is even worse," he said.

While Spencer Osborne's current trouble includes those two counts of felony bigamy, his troubles at Loving Missionary started when church administrators say the accounting didn't add up.

"I did some investigating and found out there was money missing out of the account," said Deacon Fuqua.

Fuqua eventually changed the locks on the church doors and Osborne resigned.

During Sunday's arrest officers learned a jury convicted Osborne for molesting a seven-year-old Kentucky girl in 1993. He never registered as a sex offender in Indiana - something his second wife hopes will keep him behind bars.

When told that Osborne would not be able to get out of jail, Hope Osborne responded, "Thank God, because I have seven grand babies."

A judge set another court date for Osborne - and that won't be the end of his trouble here and in Kentucky.

Mother comes forward

The revelation that Osborne is a convicted sex offender convinced a teenage girl to come forward about what she says happened while he was her youth pastor two years ago at Loving Missionary. Her mother told the story to Eyewitness News Monday afternoon.

"She said that they were in the kitchen and she was showing him something and he, like, came close to her and put his private on her hand," the girl's mother said.

She said around the same time, her daughter stopped wanting to go to church, but wouldn't say why.

"It's devastating because you put your trust in one person, you know?" the mother said. "And he was around all these kids and there's no telling who he's done this to."

Church elders say they plan to investigate the girl's claims.

"We looked at him as a man of God. We didn't think he'd do anything like that," Fuqua said.

The list of potential problems for Osborne also includes two child support cases filed against him, a 2005 paternity case and an active warrant out of Kentucky for not paying child support.

Investigators say it's likely Kentucky will extradite Osborne to face those charges.

Indiana sex offender registry

(Eyewitness News reporter Emily Longnecker contributed to this story.)