Trial starts for man accused of molesting teenage Mansfield church members
Attorneys on Tuesday made opening statements in the trial of Benjamin Cole, a man accused of indecency with a child/sexual contact while he was a member of Heritage Baptist Church in Mansfield in the early 2000s.
Cole pleaded guilty in March 2018 in Smith County to possession of child pornography and online solicitation of a minor after police found a nude photograph of a 16-year-old on his phone, something that other alleged victims say caused them to come forward, leading to the charges he now faces.
Marybeth Arnold and Amanda Hodson, then in their late 20s, told the Star-Telegram in 2019 that Cole separately pursued and had sexual contact with them beginning when they were 13 and they were all members of the same North Texas church. The two women said they were emboldened to come forward by the “MeToo” movement.
The women said the leaders of Heritage Baptist Church decided to handle the abuse allegations in-house. Arnold and Hodson received “spiritual discipline,” but Cole received nothing, they told the Star-Telegram.
The women hoped their stories would show pastors that they are “culpable for all the abuse that Ben inflicted on people since they knew that he preyed on children,” Arnold, a nurse living in San Antonio, told the Star-Telegram for an article published in April 2018.
The church elders at Heritage Baptist Church in Mansfield previously released a statement in which they denied ever receiving allegations of sexual misconduct involving Cole from Arnold and Hodson.
Cole, who remains in custody, has pleaded not guilty and is being tried in Tarrant County 432nd District Court.
This story was originally published February 8, 2022 at 4:48 PM.