NH man charged with raping 15-year-old fellow churchgoer in 1997; pregnant teen sent to Colo.

NH church focus of 1997 teen churchgoer rape case

CONCORD, N.H. — A New Hampshire man has been charged with the 1997 rape of a 15-year-old fellow church member who became pregnant and was relocated to Colorado by her strict religious order.

The now 28-year-old woman lives in Arizona. She detailed the alleged rapes in a statement to Concord police this spring and said she was moved to Colorado against her will. The baby was given up for adoption.

Fifty-one-year-old Ernest Willis of Gilford was charged Thursday with four counts of felony sexual assault, including aggravated assault. Willis and the woman attended Baptist Trinity Church, and the woman used to baby-sit for Willis’ children.

Willis could not be reached for comment Tuesday. The only Willis listed in Gilford said she did not know him.