Pastor charged with child sex trafficking remains in custody
A Toledo pastor TOLEDO — charged with child sex trafficking was in U.S. District Court Wednesday morning for what was to have been a hearing where his attorneys would argue that he be released from jail pending trial.
Instead, Judge Jack Zouhary announced that the bond hearing for Cordell Jenkins would be continued “for a couple weeks.”
“There’s a matter that has come up that requires a continuance,” the judge said without further explanation.
Jenkins’ bond hearing was rescheduled to July 6.
Jenkins, 46, is the founder and pastor of Abundant Life Ministries and husband of Lucas County Administrator Laura Lloyd-Jenkins.
He was indicted April 26 on two counts of sex trafficking of a minor and one count each of production of child pornography and receipt of child pornography.
In motions filed with the court, his attorneys have proposed that Jenkins be released from custody and allowed to live at his Toledo home with his parents, Bishop C.M. Jenkins, Sr., and Stephanie Jenkins, as guardians.
His attorneys also said he could post a $50,000 bond and be monitored by an electronic ankle device if the court felt that was necessary.
Prosecutors have said that federal guidelines recommended pre-trial detention in cases involving sexual crimes against children.
Jenkins currently is being held in the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center near Youngstown.
Human remains that washed ashore last week in Willowick have been identified as one of the six passengers who died in a December plane crash just north of downtown Cleveland, according to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Cleveland.com reports that the remains were identified as 15-year-old John ( Jack) Fleming of Dublin.
Fleming was with his family aboard a Cessna 525 Citation Dec. 29 when it crashed shortly after take-off from Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland.
Also on the plane was Fleming’s father, Ohio beverage distributor CEO John Fleming, 45, his brother, Andrew, and their mother, Sue. Their neighbors, Brian Casey, 50, and Megan Casey were on board the plane as well.
Dive crews recovered remains from John Fleming, Brian Casey, and Jack Fleming during a days-long recovery mission that followed the crash. The remains of Megan Casey, Sue Fleming and Andrew Fleming have not been found.
The remains that washed ashore June 21 in Willowick were found about 8:40 p.m. on the city’s eastern border. The Lake County Coroner’s Office provided them to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office for further testing.
The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report on the crash in January, but the investigation is still under way. to misdemeanor assault.
Abraham pleaded guilty to the assault charge last Thursday. The results of the unscheduled hearing were not entered on the court’s docket until Tuesday.
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold accepted the plea last Thursday and immediately sentenced Abraham to 180 days in jail. She suspended that sentence, placed him on a year’s probation and fined him $250.
Abraham was arrested on July 19.
Abraham, of Chardon, stuck his cellphone under the woman’s dress and took a video without her knowledge, according to court records.
A man in line ahead of her saw the act and Abraham ran, records say. Abraham was trying to delete the recording from his cellphone when the man caught up with him, the complaint says.
Abraham kept reaching into his pocket “to manipulate his phone” after police showed up to investigate, according to a police report.
Officers handcuffed Abraham and confiscated his phone, the report says.
During an interrogation, Abraham admitted that he took the video and was trying to delete it before officers could check his phone. A search of the phone turned up the video, prosecutors said.
Abraham retired in 2013 from Kenston Middle School, where he taught for 35 years.