Fugitive in court on child sex charges
A former fugitive pastor chatted in a Henderson courtroom with police officers and a deputy public defender Tuesday while awaiting a brief hearing after his return in custody from Mexico on multiple child sex assault charges.
Otis Holland, 55, later told Justice of the Peace David Gibson Sr. he didn't mind waiting until March 21 for an evidence hearing in his case.
Holland faces charges of sexual assault with a minor under 16, sexual assault with a minor under 14, lewdness, child abuse and conspiracy to destroy evidence. The charges could land him in prison for the rest of his life if he is convicted.
The judge ordered Holland to remain at the Henderson city jail until prosecutors and his lawyers submit written bail requests.
Holland, known as Reverend Otis to members of his United Faith Church congregation, was arrested Jan. 25 in Tijuana, Mexico, months after a bail bonds company posted $30,000 to get him out of jail a year ago. Henderson police had arrested Holland in December 2010 and January 2011 after investigating allegations that he abused girls as young as 7 .
Police also allege that Holland shared a ship cabin with a teenager and her younger sister during a cruise vacation with them in August 2010 and that he bought diamond jewelry and clothes for the teenage girl he was accused of sexually assaulting. The girl also told police that Holland took her to a man in Las Vegas who gave her monthly birth control injections.
The conspiracy to destroy evidence charge stems from allegations that Holland instructed the teenager's mother and her ex-husband to destroy computer hard drive disks, sex toys and paperwork for church counseling sessions, according to a police arrest report.
