A former President of the Methodist Conference has been charged with seven counts of sexual assault and one indecent assault. The charges relate to a number of women.
Rev Steve Wild, who was chair of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Methodist Circuit from 2008 until 2022, will appear at Truro Magistrates Court on 15th September.
The 70-year-old was suspended in September 2021 after allegations were made against him. The details of the allegations were not made public despite repeated requests from Premier Christian News.
In March 2022, it was announced that he would not be permitted to return to ministry after a safeguarding panel revealed the results of an investigation into a complaint made against him.
The investigation concluded that a culture of sexism was rife within the Methodist Church and criticised some senior leaders for a failure to respond to allegations of abusive or discriminatory behaviour.
At the time, Rev Mark Dunn-Wilson from Truro Methodist Church said the process had been “an extremely difficult and upsetting one for all those concerned.”
Rev Wild had “categorically denied” ever behaving in a way that brought the Church into disrepute.
The Rochdale-born minister became a hugely popular and charismatic minister across the south west and was selected to serve as Methodist Conference President for 12 months in 2015.
In 2004, prior to his ministry in Cornwall, he was appointed the Methodist Church's national Director of Evangelism, based at Cliff College in Derbyshire.
The Methodist Church has told Premier Christian News it won’t be releasing a statement on the situation.
