McAlester police arrested Lawrence on Nov. 26 after a woman reported to them that she had been molested by him when she was a child.

Two other people spoke with police during the monthlong investigation about alleged abuse by Lawrence, police said at the time.

Prosecutors said Lawrence told police in October that he had been "disfellowshipped" from the church because of multiple sexual misconduct allegations and had admitted to the allegations in order to be reinstated to the church.

Lawrence told the investigator that he "did admit to his church that all the allegations brought against him by church members were true" and that "law enforcement was never informed of these allegations," the affidavit states.

Lawrence's defense had filed a motion stating that the statute of limitations  12 years for rape or forcible sodomy, sodomy, lewd or indecent proposals or acts against children  had expired.

The state responded in late January that the statute of limitations clock begins at the moment of "discovery."

Prosecutors said that because there was a cover-up that reached to the upper levels of the church's national governing body, the crime had not been "discovered" until late 2013.