Crime & Safety
Alleged Rapist Pastor Enters Not Guilty Plea
The former pastor denies all charges of having sex with a teen choir girl, and bail is set.
A former pastor accused of having sex with a teenaged choir girl pleaded not guilty to rape today.
Joseph Jermaine Spencer, 26, was charged with rape by force or fear, unlawful intercourse with a minor at least three years younger than the defendant, oral copulation with a minor and sexual penetration with a foreign object.
The charges stem from an alleged encounter in April at Spencer's Murrieta apartment with a 16-year-old member of the choir he directed at in Temecula.
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To read about what allegedly happened, .
He sat in a courtroom in French Valley during his arraignment today wearing an orange prison uniform with his hands chained to his waist, ankles shackled and his head hung low.
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The judge set his bail at $50,000, and a criminal protective order was filed to prevent Spencer from communicating with the victim.
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