Florida pastor and popular Christian radio show host commits suicide after being charged with raping teenage girl over five years
- Reverand Bryan Fulwider, 59, was found dead in his home Sunday night, according to authorities. A medical examiner ruled that he died by suicide
- Fulwider, a popular Christina radio show host, was free on a $700000 bond after he was arrested October 2 for raping a young woman over several years
- The victim told police that she was abused starting in 2014 when she was 14 while Fulwider was senior minister at First Congregational Church of Winter Park
- According to a warrant, he was facing 30 counts of sexual battery of a person younger than 18 by a person in position of custodial authority.
Authorities say a Florida pastor and popular Christian radio show host who was charged with raping a teenage girl appears to have killed himself.
Altamonte Springs police spokeswoman Michelle Sosa tells the Orlando Sentinel that the Reverand Bryan Fulwider was found dead in his home Sunday night.
The Medical Examiner’s Office for Seminole County ruled the death a suicide.
Fulwider had been free on a $700,000 bond.
Reverand Bryan Fulwider was found dead in his home Sunday night by an apparent suicide after he was arrested for raping a teenage girl over five years
The 59-year-old pastor was arrested Oct. 2 after a young woman told investigators he began abusing her in 2014 when she was 14 and he was senior minister at the First Congregational Church of Winter Park.
Fulwider had told the young woman he loved her.
‘[T]here was never anything salacious or bad about it and you were always too damn mature for your own good and I have always loved you’, the reverend told his accuser in a call recorded by police, according to court records obtained by Sentinel.
Fulwider had co-hosted ‘Friends Talking Faith,’ broadcasting weekly on WMFE. The show featured Fulwider as one of the ‘Three Wise Guys’, along with a rabbi and an imam.
Fulwider’s attorney, Jacob V. Stuart Jr., initially had said his client vehemently denied the allegations and had committed no crime.
Following Fulwider’s death, the attorney says his client was treated unfairly by the legal system, the media and the community.
Fulwider should have been presumed innocent until proven guilty, the lawyer says.
First Congregational Church released a statement following his arrest saying the church and its community was ‘deeply pained’ by Fulwider’s arrest. He resigned from First Congregational more than seven years ago.
‘At this time, we have no information about this matter, but we pray that any victim associated with this be given privacy in order to move forward and heal’, a statement from First Congregational Church of Winter Park senior minister, the Rev. Shawn Garvey said.
First Congregational Church released a statement following his arrest saying the church and its community was ‘deeply pained’ by Fulwider’s arrest. Fulwider (pictured) resigned from First Congregational more than seven years ago