ELKINS, W.Va. — Sex crime charges against an Elkins pastor are heading to a grand jury for consideration.
A Randolph County magistrate decided Tuesday there’s enough evidence to forward the charges against Kevin Curtis Jones, 33, of Elkins.
Jones has been in jail since Oct. 2 when he was charged with allegedly using a computer to solicit an underage girl. Authorities said Jones, at that time the pastor at Summit Church, used a phone to seek a “clandestine relationship“ with the girl in December 2023,
A charge of Distribution & Exhibiting Material Depicting Minors Engaged in Sexually Explicit Activity was added last week.
The alleged victim, now older than 18, testified at Tuesday’s preliminary hearing that she had no sexual contact with Jones when she was underage. She said she wants a relationship with him. A second woman testified contact she had with Jones when she was underage was also not inappropriate.
An investigator told the magistrate a significant number of files on Jones’ electronic devices are still being reviewed.
The Inter-Mountain newspaper reported the hearing stretched for three hours. The newspaper also reports Jones is the now the former pastor of Summit Church.
He remains in the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on a combined $100,000 cash-only bail.