A former employee of Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock who was charged more than five years ago in the sexual abuse of a young girl at the church was arrested Friday on new charges stemming from a second accuser’s allegations.

Patrick Stephen Miller, who served as the congregation’s assistant director of children’s ministry from May 2014 to January 2016, turned himself in Friday morning and was arrested on charges of second-degree sexual assault and kidnapping.

He pleaded innocent to the charges, both felonies, in Little Rock District Court and was released later Friday on a $50,000 bond.

The former lead pastor at Immanuel Baptist, Steven Smith, stepped down in April after apologizing late last year for failing to tell the congregation earlier about either of the accusers’ allegations.

Smith had also faced criticism over his handling of another sexual abuse case involving a teenage boy and an adult volunteer.

In the first case, Miller was charged in January 2019 with second-degree sexual

assault but pleaded guilty in 2022 to misdemeanor harassment. He was given a one-year suspended sentence, with 19 days’ credit for time served.

Miller filed a petition in July 2023 to seal the court record in that case but withdrew it early this year.

Miller’s first accuser came forward in March 2016, reporting that Miller had taken her into a dark church closet three or four times and rubbed her stomach under her shirt, previous court filings say.

Two years later, she told a friend that Miller had touched her elsewhere on her body as well.

She subsequently told investigators that Miller, her former Sunday School teacher, also had placed his hands down her pants and touched her “in the privates,” court records state.

This was alleged to have occurred on a Sunday night while the adults were elsewhere in the building.

The new charges relate to similar accusations, made in the summer of 2022, by another young churchgoer.

Both accusers, who are now young women, say they were 8 or 9 years old and in third or fourth grade when the abuse occurred.

At Little Rock District Court on Friday, Miller stood with his hands in his pockets as Judge Melanie Martin set his bond.

Martin ordered him not to have any contact with the victim in the case.

Both counts that Miller faces in the latest case are Class B felonies, each punishable by five to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000.

The arrest warrant was placed under seal, and Martin instructed both sides not to release its contents to third parties. A review date was set for Aug. 20.

Afterward, Miller, 38, was led out of the court building by two uniformed officers, placed in a black-and-white Little Rock police vehicle, and driven to the Pulaski County jail for processing, as former Immanuel churchgoers looked on.

His attorney, Alex Morphis, declined to comment.

Attorney Joseph Gates, a former Immanuel Baptist Sunday School teacher who represents both of Miller’s accusers, was on hand for Friday’s proceedings. He had criticized Immanuel officials for failing to tell members about the accusations lodged against Miller, arguing it prevented other potential victims from speaking up.

“We are pleased the state has filed felony charges for the sexual abuse of children that Patrick Miller did while children were entrusted in his care,” he said. “We recognize that today is the first step of the criminal process and we are committed to seeing this through to a jury trial if Patrick fails to offer a full confession and accept responsibility for his actions. He escaped justice for what he did to another child but we believe justice will be served this time.”

“We continue to encourage anyone who has been harmed by Patrick at Immanuel Baptist Church of Little Rock or anywhere else to please come forward, please contact the Little Rock Police Department and tell your story,” he said. “You will be believed.”

Miller began working part time at Immanuel in September 2011, a few months after marrying the daughter of longtime members, and continued to work with children there until March 2016. During that time, he was involved in preschool ministry, children’s ministry and Vacation Bible School, as well as the church’s recreation programs, Immanuel officials said.

The congregation quickly cut ties with Miller in March 2016, at the time accusations were initially made.

Details about the investigation, Miller’s arrest and the subsequent court proceedings were not shared with the congregation until December 2023, hours after the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette wrote about the case.

Shortly after leaving Immanuel, Miller was hired as an associate kids pastor at First Moore Baptist Church in Oklahoma, where he worked until August 2018.

First Moore was kept in the dark about the accusations against Miller, its former pastor said in December.

“I can attest that as senior pastor at (First Moore Baptist Church), I was never contacted by Immanuel Baptist Church of Little Rock in Arkansas in 2016 or 2018 regarding any allegations of child sexual abuse or predatory behavior against Patrick Miller,” said Kevin Clarkson, currently the pastor at Liberty Church of Yukon, Okla. “Had I been, appropriate actions would have been taken.”

Smith, who had been Immanuel’s lead pastor since January 2017, apologized to his own congregation Dec. 10 for not telling them about the accusations against Miller.

The apology came about three months after the church’s discipleship content coordinator resigned over Smith’s handling of a different case, involving allegations of an inappropriate relationship between a teenage boy and an adult volunteer, saying the “lack of transparency, accountability, and handling” of the situation made her position “untenable.”

Smith had portrayed that incident as immoral but not criminal.

But in April, the former student ministry volunteer, Reagan Gray, was charged with one count of first-degree sexual assault; she has pleaded innocent.

With average Sunday attendance of 925, Immanuel has been one of Arkansas’ largest Southern Baptist congregations, according to the Arkansas Baptist State Convention’s 2022 annual report. But hundreds of members left after the abuse accusations came to light.

Bart Barber, who stepped down earlier this month after completing his second term as Southern Baptist Convention president, said Immanuel’s problems have not gone unnoticed by Baptists nationwide.

“What happened at Immanuel Baptist Little Rock — it’s become a cautionary tale that may help move people toward better practices in our churches. And I hope so, I pray so,” he said in an interview last month with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

“If there are people out there in ministry who won’t be moved by the fact that it was always wrong (to cover up abuse), they’re moved by the fact that it’s dangerous and there are consequences, and they’re severe,” he said.