Shifflett indicted by grand jury

Culpeper Star Exponent, Virginia/June 21, 2006
By Liz Mitchell

A grand jury indicted Charles Shifflett, pastor of First Baptist Church of Culpeper, on a total of seven charges of child abuse in Circuit Court on Monday.

Two of the charges are new and will require Shifflett to go through the arrest and bond process again, according to Commonwealth’s Attorney Gary Close.

The new charges stem from an ongoing investigation conducted by the Culpeper County Sheriff’s Office.

The seven charges consist of five counts of cruelty and injury to children and two counts of indecent liberties with children. Judge John R. Cullen set Shifflett’s arraignment date for Aug. 22 at 9:30 a.m.

However, for the two new charges, which the commonwealth directly indicted to the grand jury, Cullen explained to Shifflett that he would be served with new arrest warrants and would have to appear in court at an earlier date.

As of Monday evening, the arrest warrants had not been served.