Pastor Stephen Bates, 46, of 62 Caldwell Road, Nashua

NASHUA — Arraignment has been set for Pastor Stephen Bates, for nearly 17 years the leader of the Bible Baptist Church of Nashua who was arrested last week on charges accusing him of possessing child pornography.

Bates, who is also listed as the chairman of the church’s board of directors, is scheduled to appear in Hillsborough County Superior Court South at 1 p.m. on Thursday, April 7, for arraignment on five counts of possession of child sexual abuse images, according to a state Judicial system spokeswoman.

The charges are all Class A felonies, each of which are punishable by up to 7 1/2 – 15 years in prison.

Bates, 46, lives at 62 Caldwell Road, the address of the church’s parsonage, which is next door to the church at 64 Caldwell Road.

Police said that on March 11, Nashua detectives working the case — which goes back nearly six years — applied for, and were granted, a search warrant for the church office, the parsonage, and “the person of Stephen Bates.”

Four days later, a task force made up of several law enforcement agencies showed up at the parsonage with the warrant, police said.

One of the Nashua detectives spoke with Bates, at which time Bates “removed two USB’s from his pants pocket,” according to police.

A subsequent forensic review of the USB’s allegedly “showed child sexual abuse images in various folders,” police said.

Bates was taken into custody without incident, and was initially charged with one count of possession of child sexual abuse images. Four additional charges have since been filed.

Police said more charges could be filed once investigators finish conducting “complete forensic examinations” on “multiple electronic devices” that were allegedly seized from the church parsonage following Bates’s arrest.

Bates was booked on the initial charge, then later released on $3,000 cash bail pending the upcoming arraignment.

According to court documents in his case file, the bail was posted by Stephanie Bates, who is listed on the church’s website as his wife. It also states the couple has three daughters, whose ages are unknown.

According to court documents in his case file, the bail was posted by Stephanie Bates, who is listed on the church’s website as his wife. It also states the couple has three daughters, whose ages are unknown.

Bates must abide by several bail conditions, according to his bail order. He is prohibited from using “any computer” and from accessing the internet for any reason, including browsing, email, gaming or social media.

He cannot have any unsupervised contact with anyone under age 18, and he must continue living at 62 Caldwell Road, according to the order.

The investigation that eventually led to Bates’s arrest began in August 2016, according to police. Over that time, local police and law enforcement agencies from across the nation involved Homeland Security Investigations offices from as close as Manchester and as far away as Washington state, along with others based in Florida and Colorado.

According to a history of the Bible Baptist Church of Nashua posted on its website, the congregation’s roots go back to 1979, when “a number of French Canadian families in Nashua became frustrated by changes in the Catholic church … (they) resolved to open the Bible and and discover for themselves what the Bible says about Catholic dogma they had learned growing up.”

Their findings, according to the timeline, prompted them to begin holding services in each others homes. The church was officially organized in summer 1980, and its current property, described as “between 62 Caldwell Road and 117 Fairview Ave.” was purchased in October 1986.

Bates stepped into the picture in August 2005, two months after the church leadership voted unanimously “to call Brother Bates as pastor,” an offer Bates would accept.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.