Share and Follow
A South Carolina judge recently granted bail to the wife of a pastor facing over 90 child abuse charges alongside her husband. These charges date back to incidents allegedly occurring in the 1980s.
In May, Kathleen and Myron Chorbajian, aged 71 and 73 respectively, were apprehended in Tennessee and subsequently extradited to South Carolina. Their indictments were issued in November, according to a report by WHNS.
Arrest warrants allege that Myron Chorbajian subjected one child to dumpster-diving for food and forced another to sleep in an outdoor trashcan. He is also accused of using severe corporal punishment and killing family pets in the presence of children.
Authorities claim that Kathleen Chorbajian was aware of the abusive actions for years but failed to intervene. Her legal team has filed a motion for bail, arguing she poses no flight risk. They also contend the state’s portrayal of the case is exaggerated, noting that parents allowed their children to stay overnight at the couple’s residence without supervision.
Investigators say Kathleen Chorbajian was aware of the decades of abuse and did nothing to stop it. Her attorneys, however, filed a new request for bond saying that she was not a flight risk. The attorneys further claimed the state’s “case is not as the state has advertised” since adults let their children stay overnight with the couple unsupervised.
Prosecutors pushed back, saying that the Chorbajians weaponized their faith to harm the children.
“This case is essentially about the weaponization of Christianity to justify the abuse of children,” the state’s attorney said. “The time the abuse occurred, these victims were small children in foster care. They had nowhere else to go. These sadistic acts of abuse that were justified by religion against some of the most vulnerable members of our society, I don’t know a situation where someone could present a more clearly present danger to the community.”
The judge ultimately gave Kathleen Chorbajian a $120,000 bond, barring her from contact with the victims, anyone under the age of 18, or her husband. She also must wear a GPS monitor and is prohibited from leaving home except for medical, legal, or religious reasons.
According to previous reporting, the investigation began last April when one of the victims reported “extensive abuse” by Chorbajian. Arrest warrants say he sexually abused female children, paddled a naked victim 50 times, beat a child with a belt until the victim lost consciousness, and forced another child to eat dirt off the floor.
After killing the family dog in front of one child, he forced the child to bury the dog. He also ran over another child’s kitten and then shot it in the head in front of her.
Chorbajian remains behind bars without bond.
According to Law&Crime, He is charged with two counts of assault and battery with intent to kill, 15 counts of unlawfully placing a child at risk or harm, and eight counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor, among others.
Kathleen Chorbajian faces at least 10 counts of unlawfully placing a child at risk or harm.
Chorbajian was the pastor at First Southern Methodist Church in Greenville before his arrest.