Accused pastor commits suicide in Bucks

LEVITTOWN A former church pastor committed suicide on Monday, a week before he faced trial on charges that allege he sexually assaulted a girl more than 20 years ago, officials said.

Scott B. Sechrist, 61, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his Bristol Township home, said Jennifer Schorn, chief of the Bucks County District Attorney Office's major crimes division.

Sechrist had served as pastor of the First Baptist Church of Morrisville and lived in the Levittown section of Bristol Township, where the assaults occurred between 1989 and 1992, police said. Sechrist allegedly knew the girl's family from his church. She was nine when the alleged assaults began.

Schorn said Sechrist left a note maintaining his innocence. However, the prosecutor said ample evidence pointed to his guilt, including a secret recording of a recent conversation between the victim and Sechrist, during which he admitted to the assaults. The recording, taken by the victim, was played at a preliminary hearing in March.

Sechrist was free on $500,000 unsecured bail and faced 30 felony counts related to sexual assault.

- Ben Finley