5/21/2014 CONCORD: Man accused of rape indicted | Concord Monitor

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Man accused of rape
indicted
By MADDIE HANNA
Monitor staff
Saturday, August 28, 2010
The former Trinity Baptist Church member accused of raping and impregnating a teenage church
member 13 years ago has been indicted by a grand jury on five counts of sexual assault.
Ernest Willis, 51, of Gilford, faces three counts of rape, one of which alleges he had sex with the girl,
then 15, in her Concord home between June 1 and July 31, 1997, by using 'physical force and/or
superior physical strength,' according to the indictment.
The other two rape counts apply to the same time period and allege that Willis had sex with the girl in
her house and a car after she 'indicated by speech and/or conduct that she did not freely consent,'
according to the indictments.
Willis was also indicted on two counts of having sex with a minor, which allege that he knew that the
girl was underage when he had sex with her in her home and in a car.
While the indictments include three counts of rape, Assistant County Attorney Wayne Coull said the
charges allege Willis had sex with the girl twice - the same incidents that formed the basis of the
charges brought by the Concord police.
The police arrested Willis in May after interviewing the woman, Tina Anderson, who moved to
Colorado in 1997 after becoming pregnant. Now 28 and living in Arizona, Anderson came forward
earlier this year and told the police that Willis had raped her in the back seat of a car while teaching
her to drive and at her Concord home while her parents were away.
When Willis came to her home, he locked the door behind him and pushed Anderson to the couch,
she told the police.
5/21/2014 CONCORD: Man accused of rape indicted | Concord Monitor
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The Monitor does not typically name victims of sexual assault but has done so at Anderson's request.
Anderson said that after she became pregnant, the church's former pastor helped move her to
Colorado, where she delivered her baby. The former pastor, Chuck Phelps, has said he contacted the
police within a day of learning of the rape allegations, but the police have said that Anderson's move
out of state hindered their investigation.
Messages left with the number Willis listed in court records went unreturned this week. He did not
have an attorney at his most recent court appearance, a June arraignment in Concord District Court.
Coull said yesterday he had not yet received a scheduling order for the case.
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