Tennessee: Women say church shunned them after they accused pastor of theft

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

photo Rickey Alan Reed, former pastor of 1st Free Methodist Church, appears Tuesday in Smyrna General Sessions Court. He is accused of trying to break into a house to steal prescription drugs. (George Walker IV/The Tennessean)

By Brian Haas and Mark Bell

NASHVILLE -- A woman says she is being ostracized for coming forward with new allegations against Rickey Alan Reed, a Smyrna pastor accused of breaking into church members' homes for drugs.

"I've been in that church since I was about 8 years old," said Kimberly Cannon, 48, who lives in Rutherford County. "We were all close. Now it just seems like they don't want to have anything to do with us."

Cannon called the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office earlier this month to say that Reed, 55, who was pastor of 1st Free Methodist Church in Smyrna, may have stolen her pain medication. She's at least the second person to accuse him of that, the first having caught him on video trying to break into her Smyrna home.

See full story on The Tennessean.