Rev. Edward-Richard Hinds, who headed Brooklyn clergy council, charged with sex abuse of teen

Brooklyn faith leader Rev. Edward-Richard Hinds has been indicted on sex abuse charges for an inappropriate relationship with a teenager, law enforcement sources told the Daily News.
Hinds — who headed the 67th Precinct Clergy Council, known as “The GodSquad” — appeared Thursday afternoon in Brooklyn Supreme Court to be arraigned on the seven-count indictment. A special prosecutor from the Staten Island district attorney’s office is handling the case.
The charges involve incidents from 2022 with a 16-year-old boy, sources said. Their encounters were not forcible, so any that took place after the teen turned 17 wouldn’t bring criminal charges, sources said.
In one of those incidents, on Christmas Eve 2022, Hinds and the teen performed sex acts on each other, the sources said.
The charges against the cleric include third-degree criminal sex act and sex abuse.
Hinds has been involved with multiple programs launched by Mayor Adams’ administration, and the GodSquad holds $10.5 million in active contracts with city agencies, mostly with the Department of Youth and Community Development, procurement records show.
Hinds has also been involved in the Citywide Clergy Collective, an anti-gun violence initiative the mayor established earlier this year.
Adams spokesperson Kayla Mamelak said Hinds was removed from the collective on Aug. 12 after the GodSquad first alerted the mayor’s office about the accusations against the reverend.
“The allegations against Pastor Hinds are heinous and deeply disturbing, which is why he was immediately removed from the Citywide Clergy Collective and GodSquad as soon as they came to light,” Mamelak said Thursday.
In a statement released on X that day, the GodSquad said it had learned of “serious allegations” against Hinds. The statement didn’t elaborate on the accusations, but it said the GodSquad had informed the Brooklyn district attorney’s office of them.
Hinds pleaded not guilty at his arraignment and his lawyer, Lonnie Hart, asked he be released without bail, pointing out he has no criminal record.
“This is his first time actually being in a courthouse,” Hart said.
Hinds was removed from his position as Clergy Council president in July, Hart said. “He knew for four months that there was some type of investigation going on, and if he was going to run, he had ample opportunity to do so.
Judge Raymond Rodriguez set his bail at $5,000 cash or $30,000 bond.
The Clergy Council’s website has been scrubbed of several references to the reverend’s position as president there. A link to his bio was taken down earlier this year, and his name was removed from the council’s board of directors page. Archives of both pages can still be found online.
A representative for the 67th Precinct Clergy Council did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
In a 2022 interview with NY1, Hinds described mentoring young men as being his calling, telling the station, “Mothers do a tremendous job as single parents. But there is something about a father, a man talking to a young man, shaping them.”