TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Two youth ministers at a Tulsa megachurch say misdemeanor charges of failing to report child abuse against them should be dismissed because no one in the case has been charged with child abuse.
Former Victory Christian Church employee Chris Denman is charged with first-degree rape and other sex crimes. Police say the 20-year-old Denman a raped 13-year-old girl in a stairwell on the church campus. Another ex-employee faces separate charges.
John Daugherty, his wife, Charica, and three others were charged for allegedly waiting two weeks to alert authorities. All have pleaded not guilty.
The motion was filed Friday in Tulsa County District Court. It argues that because the two former employees aren't charged with child abuse, the Daughertys can't be charged with "failure to report child abuse."
