What could have been the reason for Pastor Curtis Keith Bankston and his wife Sophia Simm-Bankston locking eight disabled people in their basement against their will? They have been charged with false imprisonment, and they are likely to serve jail time.
According to the Police, Pastor Curtis Keith Bankston and his wife Sophia Simm-Bankston controlled the finances and public benefits of these disabled people in collaboration with their One Step of Faith 2nd Chance church.
Here is what happened via Baller Alert:
The people were rescued when Griffin Fire responded to the home of Pastor Curtis Keith Bankston and Sophia Simm-Bankston about someone having a seizure. Once there, they discovered a deadbolt on the basement door, and they could not reach the patient. Emergency personnel had to climb through a window to render aid to the person. That is when they found multiple people locked in the basement, all of which had mental and physical disabilities.
Police learned that the Bankston’s controlled the people’s finances and public benefits while operating as a “group home” in collaboration with their One Step of Faith 2nd Chance church. The couple would even deny the victims their medications at times. The victims range in age from 25 to 65. They had all been placed into housing by the Georgia Department of Human Services. Five of them are wards of the state.
The couple rented the property for fourteen months and used the basement as a nursing home that residents couldn’t escape from.
Dexter Wimbish, Pastor Bankston’s attorney, said in a statement that none of the people were being held against their will. He claims that the couple’s ministry was not operating as a group home but was providing room and board to those in need, “doing what God commanded us to do.” Wimbish also claimed that the patients had conservators handling their finances, who paid money directly to the church for room and board. He says the Bankston’s fed them three times a day.
The couple are looking at least 10 years in jail if convicted on all charges.
Flip to the next page for a news video of this story as well as the police department’s press release.