Minister indicted on child porn charges

SUMMERVILLE — A home-based minister was indicted Thursday on child pornography charges.

Kevin Jerome Powers, 47, of 117 Logan Drive, is charged with possession of child pornography and receipt of child pornography, a press release from the U.S. Attorney for South Carolina said. Powers had a computer, disks and other materials that contained images of child pornography, according to the grand jury's indictment.

No one answered the door at the home in the Waring Hall subdivision Thursday afternoon, and phone calls to the home were not returned.

Summerville police responded to the house off Central Avenue on March 30. When they arrived, Powers' wife told officers that she had walked in on Powers and caught him viewing the pornography, Maj. John Garrison of the Dorchester County Sheriff's office said. Powers told authorities that his wife then picked up a knife, threatened to kill him and hit him in the face with her hands.

Garrison said Delores Mae Powers, 69, was charged with criminal domestic violence and was released soon after on a $1,000 personal recognizance bond.

Garrison said police returned to the home with a search warrant and seized the computer, which they found to contain the images. The FBI also was brought in to assist in the investigation because of possible violations of federal laws, Garrison said. The grand jury's indictment also concludes that images had been transported through interstate and foreign commerce.

On June 18, police charged Kevin Powers with criminal exploitation of a minor. His bond was set at $10,000, and he was released the same day after posting bail.

Garrison said Powers told police that he was a minister. Garrison and neighbors said he built his own church in the backyard of the couple's home. Police searched the property and found no other related materials in the church, Garrison said.

It was not clear whether Kevin Powers is an ordained minister. There is no name on the church building in the yard.

Neighbors were shocked Thursday to learn of the criminal charges. They said the couple has kept mostly to themselves but would occasionally talk to them about Christianity.

The minister faces a maximum penalty of as much as a $250,000 fine and imprisonment for 20 years, the U.S. Attorney press release said.

Reach Nadine Parks at 937-5573 or nparks@postandcourier.com.