MEMPHIS, Tenn. – A former Memphis church employee has been indicted for allegedly sexually molesting two teenage boys in separate incidents during services.
According to Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich, a grand jury indicted 53-year-old David L. Hale Wednesday on two felony counts of sexual battery by an authority figure for each incident.
Hale volunteered at Sycamore View Church of Christ from 2011 to 2019, working in sound and lighting, and worked as a paid employee his last two years securing doors during church services.
The molesting incidents surfaced in February 2019. Hale was then banned from the Church.
According to investigators, Hale offered to give a 13-year-old boy a massage in an audio-visual area of the church during service around January 2016, in which he then rubbed his hand on the boy’s privates.
The 13-year-old reported the incident to a youth minister in 2019, and the case was sent to Child Protective Services.
Investigators said another incident was reported in 2019, in which Hale allegedly gave a massage to a 17-year-old boy in a bathroom near the church gym.
Hale recently bonded out of jail so WREG went to his home by Kate Bond Middle and Elementary schools but no one answered the door. Lynn Rimes is Hale’s neighbor. He says the allegations surprise him.
“You don’t want anybody doing anything like that but there again that’s what a court system’s for to find out if there’s anything behind it or not,” Rimes said.
Hale is due in court next month.
Anyone with additional information can contact the District Attorney’s office at info@scdag.com