Pastor Pleads Not Guilty to Molestation Charges

A pastor pleaded not guilty Wednesday to 18 charges of molesting women between 1992 and this year, authorities said.

Edward Bynum, of Lighthouse Church of God in Christ, was arrested June 23 after a parishioner’s 13-year-old daughter reported a molestation to a Fire Department employee who called police, authorities said.

An investigation found two other girls and two women, ages 13 to 45, who said they were sexually assaulted, police said.

Bynum was held in lieu of $975,000 bail. He was charged with committing lewd acts and forcible lewd acts on five victims named in the complaint, district attorney’s spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said.