The Christian County Grand Jury returned superseding indictments for a former pastor and former daycare worker at First United Methodist Church who are facing child-abuse-related charges.
Former Pastor Paige Williams and Abby Leach were indicted Friday on eight counts of first-degree complicity to criminal abuse of a child under 12.
According to the superseding indictments, Williams and Leach “intentionally breached their legal duty to protect” eight minors less than 13-months old from a situation that might cause “serious physical injury, torture, cruel confinement or cruel punishment at the hands of Allison Simpson.”
Williams and Leach were initially indicted in August 2019 on one count of first-degree complicity criminal abuse of a child under 12.
Simpson, who is also a former employee of the daycare center, was indicted in April 2019 and faces thirty counts of first-degree criminal abuse of a child under 12 years old after an investigation by Hopkinsville police. Investigators reported the alleged child abuse occurred between December 2018 and January 2019.
A fourth daycare employee, Nina Morgan, was previously indicted on two counts of first-degree criminal abuse of a child under 12-years old.
At a pretrial conference earlier this month, Commonwealth’s Attorney Rick Boling informed Circuit Court Judge John Atkins he intended to re-present the cases of Wiliams and Leach to the grand jury for a possible superseding indictment, which can include different charges, new charges, or add new defendants.
The four women are scheduled to be back in Christian County Circuit Court for a pretrial conference next week.
