A 37-year-old Michigan pastor with local ties has been charged with 11 felony counts surrounding an accusation of him being involved in lewd sexual acts involving four minors.
A warrant for Rev. Stricjavvar “Strick” Strickland, formerly of Smith County, Miss. and a 2001 gradate of Raleigh High School, was issued on August 21, 2020. The alleged incidents with the minors and the felony counts go back to five years ago during a time ranging from August 1, 2015 to August 31, 2018, according to a recent probable cause affidavit filed in Kalamazoo County District Court in late August. Strickland, the former pastor of Kalamazoo's Second Baptist Church, is accused of sexually assaulting four males between the ages of 15 and 17 and is said to have paid the boys to have sex with his wife while he watched.
Strickland has been charged with two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct on a student, another on a person age 13-15 and another by force or coercion, according to court records. He also has been charged with four counts of human trafficking of a minor for commercial sexual activity and three counts of child sexually abusive activity.
Strickland, if convicted, faces a possible penalty of 15 years in prison on the first four charges, and 20 years on the other seven charges, according to the warrant.
Strickland, through Michigan media outlets, has denied any involvement with the charges he faces, and has termed the allegations “absolutely preposterous.”