Ronnie Killingsworth denied allegations of child sexual abuse

A Wichita Falls pastor accused of sexually abusing three underage girls denied the allegations against him on Monday.

Ronnie Allen Killingsworth, pastor of Rephidim Church in Wichita Falls, represented his own defense. He testified that he never touched any of the girls and never had either of them alone in his office.

The 78-year-old said the only girls who have ever been in his office at church are his daughter and granddaughter.

He sometimes raised his voice when asked by prosecutor Bill Vasser what the girls, now adults, would gain if they made the allegations against him.

“I don’t know. “You’d have to ask her,” he said every time Vasser named a victim.

Earlier in the day, jurors heard a recording of an announcement Ronnie Killingsworth made to his community as charges were pending.

“It is an attack on this congregation and myself,” he said in the recording. He said the indecency incidents “absolutely never occurred.”

Ronnie Killingsworth is charged with six counts of indecency with a child in connection with alleged incidents between 2000 and 2011.

If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison for each count. He was released from jail Monday on $150,000 in bonds.

On Monday, his wife, Linda Killingsworth, also testified that the couple’s daughter and granddaughter were the only girls who had ever been in the priest’s office.

“He would never do anything to hurt a child,” she said. “Show me some irrefutable evidence. It is ridiculous.”

Much of the testimony during the four days in court focused on church teachings and practices. Prosecutor Bill Vasser questioned Ronnie Killingsworth about the church’s finances.

Killingsworth told the jury that the church does not ask for money from members and that the only funding comes from a “grace box” at the church.

Vasser noted that Rephidim Church had $1.2 million in cash in 2018 and Killingsworth received a $280,000 bonus in a recent year.

Both Ronny Killingsworth and his wife were questioned about the church’s practice of “separating” from members who choose to leave the church.

Prosecutor Dayve Jo Estes questioned Linda Killingsworth about the couple’s daughter, who is gay.

She testified that the couple had not communicated with their only daughter since 1998.

Linda Killingsworth burst into tears while talking about her.

“The Bible is a top priority. We are not prepared to compromise our priorities,” she said.

She also said she saw the couple’s granddaughter leaving the church for the first time in three years when the granddaughter appeared at the courthouse to testify on Monday.

This granddaughter, Carson Ford, left Rephidim Church in 2020.

She testified that she could not remember ever seeing any of the victims in her grandfather’s office and that the allegations against him were “completely absurd.”

The Killingsworths never met Ford’s child, their great-grandson.

Ford told the jury she was sad that her grandparents were no longer a part of her life.

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