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Darryl Jeter, Pastor Lonnie Remmers and Nicholas Craig (L-R) (Corona Police Dept.) |
CORONA, Calif. (KTLA) -- A Corona police officer pleaded not guilty Tuesday to failing to report the suspected child abuse of a 13-year-old boy who was allegedly tortured by members of a local church.
The Corona Police Department was notified March 29 about a boy who had been taken out to a desert area in Barstow by three men affiliated with Heart of Worship church in Corona.
The boy was told to dig his own grave.
His mother allegedly brought the boy to the men -- Pastor Lonny Remmers, Nicholas Craig and Darryll Jeter Jr. for punishment, the Riverside County district attorney's office said.
Prosecutors say Cpl. Margaret Bell, a member of the church, was allegedly told of some form of abuse prior to that time.
As a result, she was charged with a misdemeanor count of failing to report child abuse or neglect, which she is required by law to do.
Remmers, 54, Craig, 22, and Jeter, 28, were charged with kidnapping, making criminal threats, assault with a deadly weapon not a firearm producing great bodily injury and child abuse.
Their preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 7.
Court documents were unsealed in May in the alleged assault on a 13-year-old boy.
The documents reveal statements to detectives by a witness who said Pastor Remmers used pliers on the boy's nipple during a Bible study session as a group of men watched.
Superior Court Judge Becky Dugan unsealed the documents after a Press-Enterprise attorney argued in court that they should be made public.
Defense attorneys objected to the release, and have said the case has been blown out of proportion.
Among the new allegations made in the affidavits is that either Craig or Jeter literally rubbed salt in the boys wounds. The witness told police that when the boy was showering after the desert trip, one of the men placed the salt into the cuts on the boys back, and that he could hear the boy screaming.
The next day the witness said he saw blood all over the shower.
The boy told detectives that he was stripped, tied to a chair and sprayed with Mace.
Later that day, the boy was brought to a mens Bible study at Remmers home. The witness said approximately 12 people were there. Remmers allegedly asked the boy to sit in the center of the group, then squeezed the boy's nipple with pliers.
In an exclusive interview with KTLA, defense attorney Larry Noe said the case against his client, 54-year-old Lonny Lee Remmers, and two others is not what it seems.
"I think there's a lot of false information going out there," Noe said.
Remmers, along with Craig, 22, and Jeter, 28, is accused of abusing a 13-year-old boy.
The Corona Police Department was notified March 29 about a boy who had been taken out to a desert area in Barstow by three men affiliated with Heart of Worship church in Corona.
The boy was told to dig his own grave.
His mother allegedly brought the boy to the men -- Pastor Lonny Remmers, Nicholas Craig and Darryll Jeter Jr. for punishment, the Riverside County district attorney's office said.
Prosecutors say Cpl. Margaret Bell, a member of the church, was allegedly told of some form of abuse prior to that time.
As a result, she was charged with a misdemeanor count of failing to report child abuse or neglect, which she is required by law to do.
Remmers, 54, Craig, 22, and Jeter, 28, were charged with kidnapping, making criminal threats, assault with a deadly weapon not a firearm producing great bodily injury and child abuse.
Their preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 7.
Court documents were unsealed in May in the alleged assault on a 13-year-old boy.
The documents reveal statements to detectives by a witness who said Pastor Remmers used pliers on the boy's nipple during a Bible study session as a group of men watched.
Superior Court Judge Becky Dugan unsealed the documents after a Press-Enterprise attorney argued in court that they should be made public.
Defense attorneys objected to the release, and have said the case has been blown out of proportion.
Among the new allegations made in the affidavits is that either Craig or Jeter literally rubbed salt in the boys wounds. The witness told police that when the boy was showering after the desert trip, one of the men placed the salt into the cuts on the boys back, and that he could hear the boy screaming.
The next day the witness said he saw blood all over the shower.
The boy told detectives that he was stripped, tied to a chair and sprayed with Mace.
Later that day, the boy was brought to a mens Bible study at Remmers home. The witness said approximately 12 people were there. Remmers allegedly asked the boy to sit in the center of the group, then squeezed the boy's nipple with pliers.
In an exclusive interview with KTLA, defense attorney Larry Noe said the case against his client, 54-year-old Lonny Lee Remmers, and two others is not what it seems.
"I think there's a lot of false information going out there," Noe said.
Remmers, along with Craig, 22, and Jeter, 28, is accused of abusing a 13-year-old boy.
