Pastor leaves kid in car overnight while he drinks at bar, Alabama police say
An Alabama church pastor was arrested after being accused of leaving a young child in a car overnight while he drank at a bar and ate at a restaurant, police said.
John Gibson, an associate pastor at the First Baptist Church of Dothan, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, the Dothan Police Department said in a July 14 post to their website and WTVY reported.
McClatchy News reached out to the church July 15 but did not receive an immediate response.
A church spokesperson told WTVY Gibson no longer works there, emphasizing the incident occurred during Gibson’s personal time and did not involve anyone from the ministry.
Officers responded to a bar at about 2 a.m. July 13 after people noticed the child was outside in a car alone, WDHN reported.
Then, they found Gibson at a restaurant nearby and arrested him, the outlet reported. The child was not injured, according to an evaluation by medical officials
Dothan is about a 110-mile drive southeast from Montgomery.
This story was originally published July 15, 2025 at 3:15 PM with the headline "Pastor leaves kid in car overnight while he drinks at bar, Alabama police say."
