Sevier County pastor accused of child sex crimes involving five victims

SEVIER COUNTY, Tenn. — A Sevier County pastor faces trial on an indictment alleging he sexually abused five children over the course of several years in Pigeon Forge.

The Pigeon Forge Police Department said in a statement Wednesday they'd gotten a complaint about Dwight Daniel Suttles, 69, of Pigeon Forge in September, resulting in an investigation. Police said they wouldn't release any more information about it.

Suttles has been pastor of Liberty Baptist Church in Pigeon Forge. Efforts to reach Suttles and the church this week have been successful.

A Sevier County grand jury returned the presentment earlier this week. Suttles was brought in Tuesday night for booking and remained in the Sevier County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bond as of Wednesday, records show.

The six-count indictment charges him with rape of a child and five counts of aggravated sexual battery.

The document references five victims, all identified by initials. All were under age 13 at the time of the crimes, according to the indictment.

According to the document, Suttles battered two of the children over a two-year period from 2017 to 2019. He had "sexual contact" with another between November 2018 and November 2021, and another between June 2018 and June 2021.

Another victim was abused in a period between August 2018 and September 2023, authorities allege.

Access to a church biography of Suttles has been removed from the church's website.

It stated he had attended the church since his early 20s. According to the biography, he became pastor in 2009.