NLV pastor charged with lewdness

Mary Manning and Jen Lawson

Wednesday, July 13, 2005 | 9:35 a.m.

A North Las Vegas pastor was arrested July 8 on two misdemeanor charges after a boy reported he was the victim of molestation, police said.

Billy Eckstine McCurdy, 52, pastor of the Revival Temple Church of God in Christ in the 1600 block of North Tonopah Drive near Vegas Drive and Martin Luther King Boulevard, was charged with two counts of open and gross lewdness, Officer Tim Bedwell, North Las Vegas Police spokesman, said.

The boy reported McCurdy to police July 4. The offenses allegedly occurred at McCurdy's home in the 700 block of Heritage Cliff Avenue in Northridge Estates, a gated community off Alexander Road near Martin Luther King Boulevard.

McCurdy went to police headquarters to talk with detectives and was taken into custody after being interviewed. Attempts to reach McCurdy Tuesday were unsuccessful. No one answered at his house.

Bedwell refused to give the age of the boy or say whether McCurdy came into contact with him through the church. The boy is not a relative of McCurdy's, Bedwell said.

The police continue to investigate the incident and few details are available at this time, Bedwell said.

McCurdy's cousin, William O'Neil McCurdy, who also goes by Billy, said, "This is devastating on our family."

The family is "saddened by this incident," said O'Neil McCurdy, who has worked as a political consultant and has campaigned for Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and Las Vegas City Councilman Lawrence Weekly, among others.

"We were surprised at the charges," he said, noting that his cousin had never been arrested before this incident.

In addition to William O'Neil McCurdy, who works for the Las Vegas Housing Authority and is a member of the city's Parks and Recreation Commission, Billy Eckstine McCurdy has another cousin, Metro Police Deputy Chief Greg McCurdy.

On Tuesday night church members conducted Bible studies without their pastor. Church members declined to comment, saying they didn't know anything about the case.

Pastor Lawrence Daniels, who is superintendent of the four Church of God in Christ congregations in Las Vegas, said he had no comment.

"I don't know enough yet," Daniels said. Church elders would conduct their own investigation, he said.

Daniels said he did not know the alleged victim.

Daniels did confirm that McCurdy worked at the Nevada Test Site in addition to being a pastor.