Oklahoma cowboy pastor raped three underage girls while training them for local rodeo at his home, police say
INOLA, OKLAHOMA: A cowboy pastor was arrested on Wednesday, May 20, after being accused of molesting three minor girls under the pretexts of training them for rodeo events. Roy Shoop, 55, is facing charges of two counts of rape by instrumentation and six counts of lewd or indecent proposals related to the alleged molestations, according to court documents. The victims were a 15-year-old, a 13-year-old, and a 12-year-old girl. Shoop was working as a pastor at Cowboy Gatherin’ Church when he allegedly committed the crimes. While preparing them for local rodeo performances, the accused reportedly touched them inappropriately, Tulsa World reported.
One of the victims told authorities that Shoop would sexually grope her while he gave her lessons on how to ride a horse in his home in Inola, Oklahoma, according to the affidavit. "These events took place while (the victim) was staying at the Shoop’s residence where she was being instructed on barrel racing with her new horse her father had purchased from Roy and Diana Shoop," police wrote.
Although not many other details about the alleged abuse have been made public, the other two victims also reported similar instances of abuse, all of which happened when each of them reportedly went to Shoop’s residence for horse riding for rodeo-related lessons. The first victim was allegedly abused in October 2018. Another victim suffered abuse for a year starting in April 2018, while the third told investigators that the abuse took place in January.
According to the police affidavit, none of the victims are related to each other. The authorities also believe that there might have been additional underage girls who were victimized by the suspected pedophile. Following his arrest, Shoop was booked into Rogers County Jail. He was released shortly after posting a $300,000 bond.
Back in January, Wilkes County in North Carolina was shaken when news of one of their town's pastor being a pedophile made headlines. Rodney Luffman, the pastor of Open Arms Outreach Ministries, a non-denominational church in Elkin, North Carolina, was arrested and charged with more than 100 felony sex offenses. The Sheriff's office revealed that the offenses took place between 2000- 2015. The 58-year-old pastor has been charged with 115 felony sex charges, of which 80 are on the counts of indecent liberties and 35 counts of sexual offenses.
The youngest victim was four-years-old, while the oldest victim was 16. On January 16, Luffman posted on Facebook saying that he would prove his innocence in the court. He wrote, "When you start hearing things that you can't possibly believe I'd do, don't believe it, I'll prove myself innocent in court. Please pray for me'." The post garnered a mixed response from his followers.
While few came out in support of him, many others began recounting incidents of the pastor's indecent behavior. A woman commented, "You are as guilty as sin. Hope you got in jail. You were always trying to touch little girls and hug them when we went to your church. Thank God my husband finally listened to me." One person wrote, "So sad to hear that innocent children were abused by what they thought was a man of God," while another said, "$1 million dollar bail says the judge believes you possibly DID DO IT and that you're a flight risk."