NASHVILLE, ARKANSAS (KFSM) – An Arkansas youth minister from Nashville was arrested in a sexual assault case on Monday (Feb. 23), authorities say.
Jonathan Neeley, 31, was booked into the Howard County Jail on Tuesday (Feb. 24), according to detention center records. Those same records state he faces a charge of first-degree sexual assault.
In August 2014, a report was filed by multiple women regarding sexual abuse by a youth minister at the Mineral Springs Church of Christ, deputies said. That youth minister was identified as Neeley, according to a news release from the Howard County Sheriff’s Office.
Three women filed the report (one was 17, and the other two were 18 at the time of the incidents in question), the release states. All three victims said that the incidents took place primarily at the residence of Neeley in Nashville, according to deputies.
Nashville police officers interviewed Neeley in Illinois, and he was subsequently arrested afterward, the release states. Neeley was extradited back to Arkansas, and as of Thursday (Feb. 26) at 3:30 p.m., was still being housed in the Howard County Jail. His bond has been set at $100,000, deputies said.
Neeley was also once employed as a college minister in Russellville.
