May 5, 2024
By: Dwayne Page
Dismissed!
A local minister has been cleared of charges brought against him last summer in Macon County stemming from a domestic situation involving his daughter and runaway granddaughter.
David Lunsford, charged with custodial interference and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, recently made a court appearance in Macon County where the case was dismissed and is to be expunged. According to Lunsford, the District Attorney General, who originally brought the charges, came to the conclusion that the case should be dropped and convinced Lunsford’s daughter to give up on pursuing the prosecution of it.
The charges against Lunsford were based on allegations he knowingly refused to disclose to authorities the whereabouts of his 14-year-old granddaughter when she ran away from home in Macon County last August. The child allegedly claimed she had been the victim of abuse in the home by her mother, who had legal custody of the girl at the time.
Lunsford consistently claimed he was innocent of the charges and denied assertions that he knew the location of the child at the time other than communication relayed to him that she was at a safe house undisclosed to him. According to Lunsford, he had been aware of a domestic violence environment the teen had been exposed to at home which caused her to leave and seek refuge.
“They had accused me of custodial interference, which is a felony,” said Lunsford. “They thought that I had removed the child from the home, but she had literally run away and the reality is volunteers from the church went and picked her up off the street. She was afraid and that’s why she refused to go back home because of the risk of being placed back with her mother knowing it was going to get violent. They thought I had encouraged her to do that (run away from home). What finally brought her out of hiding after three months was my attorney who volunteered to go to court with her even though she was a minor. They went before the judge to get a ruling so that she couldn’t be forced to go back to her mother,” said Lunsford.
Today, Lunsford said his grandchild who is now placed with her father is happy and doing well and even he (Lunsford) and his daughter have reconciled. “We talk frequently, and things are going good,” said Lunsford. “The family has become reunified except for the mother and daughter who are still having issues, but steps are being taken for them to work through that. Every aspect of this case has gone very well. Everybody involved did the right thing and justice was served but the most important part is those broken relationships are being repaired,” said Lunsford.