Minister attacked after witness sees him touching child at bus stop, Oklahoma cops say
An Oklahoma man who is accused of inappropriately touching a child at a school bus stop was attacked by a witness who first recorded the act, police said.
That man was arrested on complaint of lewd and indecent act to child, police said, was identified as 33-year old Michael Coghill.
About 10 hours after the Oklahoma City Police Department’s Facebook post Âabout the arrest Thursday, a church in Mustang posted they were “heartbroken” to learn their discipleship minister had been arrested.
“And we were shocked to learn this news through social media today,” Lakehoma Church of Christ wrote. “Mike has a clean background check, and we have received no reports or claims against him during his tenure at Lakehoma. We will be fully cooperating with law enforcement as needed.”
Police say Coghill would frequently go on jogs past the school bus stop, KOKH reported, and the 9-year-old boy involved said the man had stopped there more than once.
On Monday, the boy said Coghill touched him on the back and that he didn’t like how it felt, KOKH reported, and he let an adult know what happened. After dropping the child off at the bus stop on Thursday, the adult waited and watched to see if the man would touch the boy again.
“Yesterday, our adult that was made aware of the situation, actually stopped, retrieved a recording device, monitored at the bus stop, observed and viewed the suspect run past the bus stop, stop, come back, and then touch the juvenile,” Sgt. Dillon Quirk said, according to KFOR.
The witness then ran after Coghill, tackled him and attacked, according to KWTV.
Police say his skull was fractured and his eye socket was cracked during the incident, according to KFOR.
The church elders have since relieved the minister of all his duties and said he is no longer on staff at Lakehoma Church of Christ.
“Our church leadership has no tolerance for any type of abuse,” they said in a Facebook post. “Safety is our highest priority for our community, congregation and especially our children. These past years we have made significant efforts to secure our children’s area providing the highest safety standards possible.”
This story was originally published September 24, 2021 at 8:52 AM with the headline "Minister attacked after witness sees him touching child at bus stop, Oklahoma cops say."