Baptist pastor accused of molesting teenage relative

Former Grace Family Baptist Church pastor Stephen Bratton, 43, was arrested Friday and charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child. Former Grace Family Baptist Church pastor Stephen Bratton, 43, was arrested Friday and charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child. Photo: Harris County Sheriff's Office Photo: Harris County Sheriff's Office Image 1 of / 27 Caption Close Baptist pastor accused of molesting teenage relative 1 / 27 Back to Gallery

The former pastor of a Southern Baptist church in north Harris County has been arrested in connection with an allegation that he molested a teenage relative for about two years, court records show.

Stephen Bratton, who stepped down from the Grace Family Baptist Church in Cypress Station last month, has since been released from custody at the Harris County Jail after posting a $50,000 bond.

The investigation began on May 16 after Bratton allegedly confessed to three Southern Baptist clergy members that he abused the child, according to court documents. Two of Bratton's co-pastors, Aaron Wright and Erin Frye, called the Harris County Sheriff's Office to their church on Bammel Westfield Road to take a report that same day, while the third pastor, David Shiflet, said he referred the complaint to the Department of Family Protective Services.

Bratton, 43, was charged Friday with continuous sexual abuse of a child, Senior Deputy Thomas Gilliland said Saturday.

"As the weeks followed the pastors continued to make contact with the detective because they desired the case to be brought forward so that justice would be served," Wright said in a written statement. "Once the case began we continued to cooperate fully throughout the investigation."

Bratton is accused of abusing the child from 2013 to 2015 with inappropriate touching that escalated to "sexual intercourse multiple times a day or several times a week," Gilliland said.

There are no other known victims, according to church leaders.

Court records show an emergency protection order was granted.

A LinkedIn profile shows Bratton listed himself as unemployed after leaving the Grace Family Baptist Church on Bammel Westfield Road in May. He previously worked at the Old River Baptist Church in Dayton.

[The Southern Baptist Convention declined to keep a list of key church officials and volunteers convicted of sex abuse crimes. We did.]

Bratton most recently testified in support of failed House Bill 896 that would have abolished abortions in Texas and opened up the possibility that prosecutors could charge a woman who undergoes the procedure with criminal homicide. The offense can be punishable by the death penalty under current Texas law.

"Whoever authorizes or commits murder is guilty," Bratton said in an April 8 hearing. "They're guilty already in a court that is far more weighty than what is here in Texas."

He is married with seven children.

The charges follow this week's Southern Baptist Convention annual gathering in Birmingham, Alabama, where religious leaders called for churches to toughen screening processes of pastors and ensure the treatment of sex abuse survivors.

An investigation by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio-Express News found more than 700 people -- mostly children -- had been victimized by hundreds of Southern Baptist church leaders since 1998.