Prosecutor: Preacher accused of child sex crimes is a "charismatic cult leader"

A prosecutor called a longtime pastor of a Wichita Falls church a "charismatic cult leader" who engaged in mental manipulation to commit indecency with three young girls in his congregation.

But a defense attorney said his client was targeted by a "family that blames the church for all the misery in their lives."

Ronny Allen Killingsworth, 78, is charged with six counts of indecency with a child involving three underaged girls between 2000 and 2011. Killingsworth is founder and "teacher-pastor" of Rephidim Church on Allendale Road.

Killingsworth was free Thursday from jail on $150,000 in bail, according to online jail records.

Testimony was expected to continue Thursday.

The prosecution is led by attorneys from the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office to avoid any possible conflicts of interest because Killingsworth's son is a detective with the Wichita Falls Police Department — a fact that played in to Wednesday's testimony.

Lead prosecutor Bill Vasser outlined to jurors in his opening statement how the girls, now adults, would describe being taken to Killingsworth's church office to sit on his lap where he would fondle them, telling one 9-year-old girl, "This is where babies come from."

Attorney Ron Poole said the defense would point out inconsistencies in the girls' stories and show that they lied.

The first witness called in 78th District Court was a woman who left the church after becoming convinced Killingsworth had abused her daughter.

Under questioning by prosecutor Davye Jo Estes, she described life in the Rephidim Church.

She said attendance by members was mandatory, that services were styled as "lessons" and members were told not to read the Bible because Killingsworth understood it, and they would not.

She said some of the lessons where children were present dealt with sodomy, necrophilia, homosexuality and other topics she later decided were "absolutely not appropriate for children."

The woman said members were instucted to shun those who left the congregation, including their own relatives. She said as a result, she severed all contact with a daughter for a period.

She also said Killingsworth connected the Y2K scare at the millennium to the rapture — the end of times — and had the members erect houses out in the country and stock them with food, ammunition and medicine.

"It was definitely a letdown when it didn't happen," she said.

The woman said after 2015 she felt some of Killingsworth's doctrines were more questionable, such as Jesus returning to Earth on a spaceship.

On cross-examination, Poole asked the woman about her daughter one time saying she would like to see Killingsworth with his shirt off.

The woman said, yes. She also said her daughter went through some "tough times" when Poole asked her if the girl had mental issues.

All the witnesses on the stand Wednesday agreed Dec. 26, 2020, was a pivotal day. That's when one of the victims gave a cousin her account of what happened to her with Killingsworth.

On the stand, that victim testified she once idolized Killingsworth.

"I thought he was the only one to get me to salvation," she said.

She said she felt privileged to be invited into his office at the church, which she described as dark and filled with taxidermy trophies.

"I felt very special," she said.

She testified she was frightened as a child because church doctrine warned she would be separated from the people she loved if she disobeyed.

"I was scared my sister would die and go to hell," she said.

The woman testified that although Killingsworth had committed indecencies with her, she did not report it because Killingsworth's son, Allen, was a detective with Wichita Falls police.

The cousin who heard the victim's story said she later heard another relative profess to be another of Killingsworth's victims and had run away as a result.

"She wasn't in the cult anymore. She was a dead fly," the cousin said.

Texas Rangers later investigated the allegations made by the young women.

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

Killingsworth founded Rephidim Church on Allendale Road in 1971 and has remained its pastor ever since. He also was a police officer in Iowa Park in the 1970s and did a short stint as their as chief. In addition, he has worked as a private investigator.

If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison on each count.

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

More: Indicted Wichita Falls pastor no stranger to controversies

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Prosecutor: Preacher accused of sex crimes "charismatic cult leader"