Pastor facing sodomy charges

CAMDENTON — A former pastor of New Life Baptist Church in Cole Camp has been charged with five counts of statutory sodomy in Camden County.

Joseph Edmund Conger, 44, of Climax Springs, was free after posting a $100,000 bond Thursday, a Camden County Jail spokesman said.

Conger was charged Feb. 22 with five counts of class C felony statutory sodomy in the second degree. Each count carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison and a fine of $5,000.

Conger resigned his job as pastor of the Faith Baptist Church in Climax Springs about two weeks before his arrest, said Jim Henderson, director of missions for the Fellowship Baptist Association based in Warsaw. The association includes 34 churches, including those in Climax Springs and Benton County.

Conger was pastor of the New Life church for about two years and of the Faith church about six years, Henderson said.

“Overall he had a good track record as far as the things that were expected of him and had accomplished a lot of very positive things,” Henderson said. “What transpired in recent days was a total surprise to all of us.”

The charges resulted from an investigation begun Feb. 17 by the Camden County Sheriff’s Department into allegations made by a 19-year-old man. The man said that Conger moved into the house next door to his in 2003.

During that summer, Conger “performed oral sex on” the teenager and Conger “had (the boy, then 14 or 15) perform oral sex on him in return,” according to a probable cause statement by Detective Sgt. Michael Schmidt, filed in Circuit Court in Camden County. The sexual acts took place in the bedroom and in the shower, the boy told police.

During the same time frame, Conger allowed another boy younger than 17 to move into his home, according to the probable cause statement. That boy also was involved in oral sex with Conger and with the other teenager while Conger watched, Schmidt’s statement alleges.

Conger, who is married and has adult children, gave a different reason than the charges for his resignation, Henderson said.

“He had been given a thorough background check by the church before he went there,” Henderson said. “The church does try to be very careful about those things.”

The missions director said church officials had put the investigation “in the hands of the law enforcement people of Camden County and in the hands of the insurance company representing the church.”