Jury seated in Wichita Falls pastor's indecency with children trial

A jury was seated Wednesday for the trial of a Wichita Falls preacher indicted on six counts of indecency with a child.

Ronnie Allen Killingsworth, 78, is pastor of Rephidim Church in Wichita Falls. He is was accused of indecency with three girls under the age of 17 between 2000 and 2011, according to court documents.

After a day-and-a-half of jury selection, seven men and five woman were picked to hear the case. Seventy-eighth District Court Judge Meredith Kennedy gave them her instructions and then broke for lunch prior to opening arguments.

Bill Vasser, an attorney from the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office, was appointed to the case at the request of the Wichita County District Attorney’s Office, possibly to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. Killingsworth has a relative in the Wichita Falls Police Department.

Killingsworth is represented by Wichita Falls attorneys Chuck Smith and Ron Poole.

Killingsworth founded Rephidim Church on Allendale Road in 1971. He also was a police officer in Iowa Park in the 1970s and did a short stint as their as chief. He has also worked as a private investigator.

Although Killingsworth faces trial in Wichita County, he turned himself in at the Clay County Jail in late June 2023 after a Wichita County grand jury returned sealed indictments against him. He has been free from jail on $150,000 bail.

If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison on each of the counts.

Anyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Jury seated in Wichita Falls pastor's indecency with children trial