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Note #7828 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Former president of Montreat College a suspect in criminal investigation
03275
June 27, 2003

Former president of Montreat College a suspect in criminal investigation

by Alexa Smith

LOUISVILLE - Police have seized the home computer of the former president of
Montreat College to search for sexually explicit emails sent to a 13-year-old
girl in Statesville, N.C.
	
 John S. Lindberg, 48, resigned abruptly on June 16 as president of Montreat
College, citing personal reasons for his departure. He was installed as the
college president on April 24, having begun his service there last July.
	
Lindberg was formerly the executive vice president of Gordon-Conwell
Theological Seminary, an interdenominational seminary in South Hamilton,
Mass. He is an ordained Methodist minister.
	
The investigation was launched by the Statesville Police Department in May,
when a girl told a school official that she was receiving sexual requests on
the Internet, according to Lt. Greg Stone of the department's criminal
investigation unit. The email was traced to Lindberg's computer.
	
Statesville police seized a laptop computer from Lindberg's home, as well as
discs, on June 24, in a search for evidence.
	
"All I can tell you is: The report was filed. The email address came back to
John Lindberg. The search warrant was executed at his residence and his
computer was seized," Stone told the Presbyterian News Service.
	
No charges have been filed in the case.
	
Lindberg is living in a college-owned house with his wife and two sons, aged
12 and 17.
	
The Citizen-Times, the newspaper in Asheville, N.C., reported that police
said the individual using Lindberg's Internet address knew the girl was a
minor. It is a felony to sexually approach juveniles; one of the requests
asked the girl to meet for sex at a motel, according to The Citizen-Times.
	
Montreat is located on the outskirts of Asheville.
	
Officials at the college say that they are learning the details of the
investigation through the local media.
	
The Rev. William E. Dudley, a member of the Board of Trustees, told the
Presbyterian News Service that tending to the shock and grief felt by both
the college and the local community is the first task: Prayer services and
meetings are under way now for staff and faculty.
	
The college is closed for the summer, so no students are currently living on
the campus.
	
"I don't think anyone in a Christian family, fellowship or community can go
through this without shock and grief. That's what is involved," said Dudley,
who added that "a wonderful sense of unity" has emerged to respond to the
crisis, linking the college, the conference center, the town and summer
cottage-dwellers.
	
The board of trustees will meet on July 3 to begin planning a search for a
new president.
	
Interim Montreat College President Don W. King issued a statement on June 25
asking the college community to join him in praying for all persons affected
by this situation. "The college," he said, "continues to press forward to
fulfill its mission to the glory of Jesus Christ. Because we know He will
sustain us, we look forward to the future."

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