NORTH LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A former pastor was arrested in North Las Vegas and faces allegations that he sexually abused several teenage girls.
Bobby Cornealius Smith told one of the teens God told him to do it in order to "'save her' from sexual intercourse," according to an arrest report obtained by KTNV.
The investigation into Smith's conduct also led to the arrest of his wife, Lashawn Nicole Smith, who is accused of child abuse.
The reported sexual abuse dates back at least a decade. The victims, now adult women whose names were redacted in the report shared with KTNV, gave detectives similar accounts of sexual abuse at the hands of Smith.
Two of the women told police Smith first gave them a sex toy and instructed them to go into the bathroom and use it on themselves. Both women said they were uncomfortable and did not do it. They told police Smith then used the toy on them, telling one girl "God had told him if (she) did not participate, it would ruin her life."
The first woman interviewed by police said Smith would regularly use at least four different sex toys on her, the report states.
She told police she was "unable to give an accurate count of how many times it occurred but she could say it definitely happened over 30 times."
Another of the women was identified as one of Smith's "God daughters." She gave police a similar account of Smith's use of a sex toy on her, telling a detective that after the first time, "it began to happen periodically for months" while she was staying with Smith and his family as a teen.
Once she turned 18, the woman told police Smith invited her to an apartment and "convinced her" to have sex with "an unknown older guy" and another individual whose name is redacted in the arrest report.
After the incident at the apartment she was taken to UMC to get a SANE kit done and filed a police report with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department on May 12, 2014.
"It should be noted (the woman) was crying and shaking while speaking with us," one of the investigators wrote in the arrest report.
A third woman reached out to the detectives investigating Smith and asked to speak with them. She told police she joined Smith's congregation at 17 while having issues with her marriage, and Smith told her she "needed to leave her husband," which she did.
She became another of Smith's so-called "God daughters" and started to spend more time with him and the other "God daughters," including sleepovers at Smith's family home.
The third woman told police one night she was summoned to Smith's room and coerced to perform a sex act on him, based on information in the report. She told police she was "terrified Bobby was going to rape or hurt her." She said she pushed him away and ran downstairs to tell one of the other girls what happened.
According to the report, all three girls told multiple people what happened to them. The second woman told police she'd spoken to Smith's mother "and many other church leaders" about the abuse, the report states.
The women recalled a "town meeting" being held at the church in 2014, in which they disclosed being sexually abused by Smith. It was decided Smith would step down as pastor, the report states. The name of the church is redacted in the arrest report.
In an interview with police, Smith's wife, Lashawn, said one of the victims had "lied when she was younger about Bobby using a sex toy on her." She said Smith had denied the allegations and she believed him, the report states. Lashawn told police she knew the girl had been given a sex toy "to keep her from having sex with boys."
Lashawn also admitted to participating in an alleged threesome with one of the victims at an apartment, according to the report.
When questioned by police, Smith denied the women's allegations, though police said he admitted to giving one of them a sex toy.
He was transported to North Las Vegas Community Correctional Center and booked for three counts of sexual assault and one count of child abuse. Lashawn Smith was booked into jail for child abuse.
