A married minister was saving souls and trying to turn young men out at the same time.
38-year-old Curtis Cooper, a minister of dance, was arrested last week after police say he sexually assaulted an 18-year-old man, who he invited to a conference in July.
Cooper who is also the founder and CEO of local Community-Based Dance Ministry, Inc., was reported by a family member of the victim according to Tallahassee Police Department.
The victim said that the weekend of July 8-9, Cooper, in partnership with his Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church, hosted a dance conference. He told police Cooper invited him to come along and “paid for everything” including a room at Hotel Duval.
The victim said on the 8th Cooper drove him to the hotel about 2 p.m. to shower and dress for church.
The police report says Cooper took the teen’s clothes from the bathroom while he was showering, requiring him to come to the bedroom.
After showering, the victim said Cooper pushed him onto the bed and forcefully gave him oral sex.
According to the documents, Cooper left after the incident.
Police say when they interviewed Cooper about the victim’s allegations almost two weeks later, he denied having any sexual contact with the victim.
Asked about what he remembered about being at the hotel, Cooper said he went to the room with the victim the evening of July 8, but fell asleep in the room and left when he woke up early the next morning.
Cooper explained that he organized the dance conference and that the victim was invited to take part in the conference as a drummer. He said that the victim’s family was also invited but the victim was the only one who attended.
When police specified the time frame given to them by the victim, Cooper suddenly changed his story.
Cooper then admitted to bringing the victim to the hotel in the afternoon but said during the time the victim was showering he was “in and out” of the room using a key and was attempting to get the toilet fixed.
Police say Cooper told them the church covered the room expenses. (Cooper is on the church board.)
He also told officers that the events leading up to the alleged sexual battery were a “lie” and denied any sexual contact with the victim.
After interviewing Cooper, police asked if he would be willing to take a Computerized Voice Stress Analysis to determine if he was telling the truth, which he eventually declined.
Police wrote that during the interview with Cooper, he kept mentioning an investigation in Blountstown where he was accused of an inappropriate relationship with a male and female victim, both under the age of 18.
When police looked into it, they discovered that the case Cooper mentioned, involved a 12-year-old victim who told investigators he knew Cooper because he was the dance instructor at his church.
According to the probable cause document, Cooper had been arrested for sexual battery in connection to the incident back in 2004.
Officers wrote that they were also aware of another case in 2014 where Cooper had been accused of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old. However, documents say authorities were never able to establish probable cause, leaving the case inactive.
The allegations are leaving local pastors disappointed.
“This kind of behavior and actions and character does not reflect the character of Christians,”
said Joseph Wright, a local pastor.
Curtis Cooper bonded out of the Leon County Jail Friday.
