Hunt for missing baby leads to kidnapping sitter and her abusive pastor husband, SC cops say
A husband and wife are in a South Carolina jail on a variety of separate charges, but it all stems from the investigation of a kidnapped 2-month-old baby, according to the sheriff’s office.
The kidnapping is what led the Laurens County Sheriff’s Office to discover the series of crimes that have put a babysitter and her pastor/teacher husband behind bars, according to a press release.
The 2-month-old was under the care of Jennifer Bunting English on Sept. 21, according to the sheriff’s office. But the child’s mother called the sheriff’s office at 8:30 p.m. to report the babysitter “had not returned her child and had stopped communicating with her.”
Sheriff’s deputies reported finding the infant with the 31-year-old Clinton resident around midnight at a residence in Joanna, where they discovered Bunting English “smoked marijuana around the infant.” While the babysitter was arrested, the 2-month-old was taken to an area hospital “to be evaluated and treated.”
During the course of their investigation of Bunting English, sheriff’s deputies learned that her husband, David English “was aware of his wife’s drug addiction” and admitted he helped her “obtain illegal drugs on previous occasions.”
The 33-year-old English is pastor at New Hope Baptist Church in Clinton, WYFF-4 reported. Laurens County Sheriff Don Reynolds said English is also a teacher.
Reynolds’ office also reported that English “assaulted his wife earlier in the week during a dispute over her whereabouts,” and that domestic violence caused “significant injuries to her body.”
“This guy is a preacher as well as a teacher in another county,” Reynolds said in a news release. “It is very disturbing to think that someone in his position, which makes him a role model to our youth, would assist his wife in purchasing illegal drugs or would assault a woman.”
English was charged with second-degree domestic violence, and unlawful conduct toward a child, and the sheriff’s office reported he turned himself in to the Johnson Detention Center in Laurens County on Monday. He is being held there while awaiting a bond hearing on Tuesday.
That is also where the pastor’s wife was being held.
Bunting English’s bond was set at $45,000 combined for three charges on Sept. 22, foxcarolina.com reported. According to the sheriff’s office Bunting English was charged with kidnapping and two counts of unlawful conduct toward a child.
“This was a terrible incident but luckily we found the baby before this turned out to be much more tragic than it already is,” Reynolds said in a news release. “Hopefully this lady will stay behind bars where she can’t put anymore children in danger.”
This story was originally published September 24, 2018 at 10:07 PM with the headline "Hunt for missing baby leads to kidnapping sitter and her abusive pastor husband, SC cops say."