A pastor of a Shawnee church is being held without bail in Utah, facing multiple felony charges, including rape and kidnapping.
On Oct. 4, Ephren Taylor Sr., 65, of Overland Park, was arrested in Millard County, Utah, and charged with rape, forcible sodomy, aggravated kidnapping, forcible sexual abuse and intentional abuse or neglect of a vulnerable person. He has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
He is currently still being held in custody without bail in Utah.
Millard County is a sparsely populated county in west central Utah, about 175 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.
Taylor made an initial appearance on Wednesday morning in Fourth District Court in Millard County – Fillmore, appearing in front of Judge Anthony Howell from the Millard County Jail via a web conferencing program with his attorney, Jacob Gunter, for a bail hearing.
Gunter argued that Taylor should be able to have bail set with the maximum conditions, including ankle monitoring and house arrest at a home or hotel.
Howell denied the motion, citing that Taylor would be a flight risk and danger to the community.
“The charges with which Mr. Taylor has been charged are incredibly serious,” Judge Howell said. “The probable cause that I have now read certainly supports a finding from the court that Mr. Taylor would concentrate a substantial danger to the community.”
Gunter, Taylor’s attorney, did not immediately return the Post’s request for comment.
An alleged assault occurred on Oct. 3
According to an arrest report from the Millard County Sheriff’s Office, on Thursday, Oct. 3, an officer was notified of an alleged sexual assault that had taken place earlier that day.
A 22-year-old woman who identified herself as having an intellectual disability called the sheriff’s office to report being sexually assaulted, according to the arrest report.
After receiving the call, the sheriff’s office conducted an interview with the alleged victim. In the report, police describe the interview as being “similar to a child forensic interview based on her cognitive delay (It was reported she is mentally at the level of an 8-10 year old child.).”
During the interview, the victim described the suspect as a “50-60 year old African American male, bald with white facial hair” who allegedly approached her while she was walking to work.
According to the arrest report, the suspect asked her to go with him to an unspecified location, but she told him she had to get to work. The two exchanged numbers and arranged to meet after her shift was over at about 3 p.m.
Even with that agreement, the victim said the suspect came to her place of work and asked her to leave early, but she declined, according to the arrest report.
After her shift ended, the suspect picked her up and said they were going bowling. Instead, the victim said he pulled over the car then raped and sexually assaulted her, according to the arrest report.
After the assault, the victim alleged the suspect drove her home after trying to encourage her to go with him to his place in Nephi, Utah.
Taylor was arrested the next day
During the hearing, Gunter said that Taylor was in the Millard County area on business.
“He’s out here on business affairs in the Delta, Millard County, Nephi area,” he said, referring to two of the larger cities in the area.
Millard County Sheriff’s Office deputies and detectives were able to locate footage of the victim getting into the suspect’s vehicle from her place of work.
Taylor’s vehicle was located in Nephi, Utah, a town in a neighboring county, where Nephi Police confirmed the suspect as Taylor, according to the arrest report.
Law enforcement’s search of the phone number that called the victim also belonged to Taylor.
According to the arrest report, Nephi police discovered Taylor was scheduled to fly out of the state on Oct. 4. They arrested him at a hotel on Oct. 4 in the early morning.
During Taylor’s hearing, Kaela Jackson, Millard County deputy attorney, said officers had to act fast to place him in custody.
“When this report came in, the officers had to work very quickly to apprehend the defendant, because he was already on his way back to the airport to go back to Kansas,” she said.
Gunter argued that Taylor was trying to make his pre-book flight and complied with police.
“He was arrested, he was transported, and he has been cooperative in those aspects,” he said.
Taylor is a pastor in Shawnee
Taylor is the pastor of Johnson County Church of Christ in Shawnee.
In the latest bulletin available on its website, dated April 2024, it lists him as Minister E.W. Taylor.
Church officials could not be reached for comment, but the address given on Utah court documents matched the address on the church’s business license with the Kansas Secretary of State.
Taylor’s date of birth given on the arrest report also matches Taylor’s Kansas voter registration record.
Taylor established the Johnson County Church of Christ in 2001, according to Kansas state records.
On its website, the church describes itself as “undenominational” and “autonomous” from other congregations.
What’s next
Taylor will be back in Millard County Court for a waiver hearing at 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 6.
During a waiver hearing, a suspect can plead guilty and waive one’s right to a trial.
