GLENDALE : Pastor to Be Tried on Molestation Charge

The pastor of a Pasadena church was ordered to stand trial Monday on charges that he sexually molested a 15-year-old girl at her Glendale home over a two-month period.

The Rev. George Nathan Bolden Jr., 33, of Altadena appeared before Glendale Municipal Judge Joseph DeVanon, who found that sufficient evidence was presented to warrant a trial. DeVanon set Bolden’s arraignment in Pasadena Superior Court for Oct. 5.

Bolden, head minister at First African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, faces seven felony counts--three of lewd acts with a child, two of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, one of attempted unlawful sexual intercourse and one of oral copulation.

Although Bolden’s attorney, Terrence J. Bennett, chose not to present a defense, he said after the hearing that his client was innocent.

“His position is that he’s not guilty,” Bennett said. “There’s been no additional corroboration” for the charges.

During Monday’s hourlong preliminary hearing, Deputy Dist. Atty. Mark Collier called only one witness, Glendale Police Investigator Linda Reynolds.

Reynolds testified that the alleged sexual encounters occurred three times this year--late the night of May 14 in the bedroom of the victim’s mother; midafternoon May 26 in the victim’s bedroom and midafternoon June 21 on the victim’s living room floor.

In each case, the victim’s mother was either out of town or away from home, she said. Sometimes, “he came to her home unannounced. He had his own key,” the investigator testified.

Bolden remains free on $30,000 bail.