No bond for Shreveport pastor charged with federal sex crimes

SHREVEPORT, LA (KSLA) - A Shreveport pastor has been ordered held without bond, following his arrest last week for allegedly taking 3 young girls across state lines for sex.

Andrea Lewis, 54, is charged with 3 counts of transportation of a minor with intent to engage in illegal sexual activity.

Lewis is pastor of Act on Faith Ministries, a nondenominational church located in the 2100 block of Hollywood Avenue. He indicted on Wednesday, and arrested early Thursday morning at his home in the 6200 block of Snowden Drive in the Mooretown neighborhood.

According to the indictment, Lewis took 3 different girls under the age of 18 out of Shreveport and into Texas for the purpose of having sex with each of them between January 1994 and December 2000.

"It's a really sad case, and our office is going to do everything we can do help these ladies," said Geya Prudhomme, the prosecutor in the State's case.

In court on Monday, it was pointed out that Lewis is still pastor at Act of Faith Ministries, where he also remains choir director. According to testimony during Monday's detention hearing, the choir is where Lewis allegedly made contact with his victims. A Shreveport Police Department sex crimes detective also testified that a cell phone was found during a recent search of Lewis' home containing photos of him engaging in sexual acts with a female that appeared to be a minor.

Investigators say the alleged sexual activity happened on choir trips out of state, and that Lewis recently took a choir trip to Mississippi. For those reasons, a federal court judge agreed that Lewis is a flight risk and ordered him held without bond until trial. A trial date has not yet been set.

It's not the first time Pastor Lewis has faced criminal charges. He was arrested in August 2012 and charged with 3 counts of molestation of a juvenile, after several girls in his ministry claimed they were sexually abused by him. The alleged abuse reportedly took place over a span of a decade.

Lewis was arrested again less than 2 weeks later and charged with 2 more counts of molestation of a juvenile. He was set to go to trial on those charges on November 18, but it was postponed until February 3.

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