Around the region

Former youth pastor accused of sexual assault\nFORT WAYNE -- A former Fort Wayne youth pastor is accused of repeatedly having sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old girl over the span of a year.\nSteve Rios, 32, of Montpelier, Ohio, was arrested Saturday and charged with two felony counts of sexual misconduct with a minor. He was released on $20,000 bond.\nAccording to a probable cause affidavit, Rios, who was an associate and youth pastor at New Hope Worship Center in Fort Wayne, began having intercourse with the girl in June 2000.\nA Child Protective Services caseworker in Ohio reported that the girl and Rios had sex five to 10 times at the youth pastor's Fort Wayne home during a three-week period in early June 2000. The caseworker's investigation uncovered a letter written by the girl to the head pastor of New Hope Worship Center stating the sexual intercourse occurred again in 2001, The Journal Gazette reported Monday.\nThe affidavit also said the girl told her cousin she got drunk with Rios and his wife one night. After the couple went to bed, Rios returned to the girl about 3 a.m. and had sex with her, the affidavit said.\nThe cousin told the girl's parents, who live in Ohio, about the relationship. They contacted Child Protective Services, the affidavit said.\nMichael Bower, of the New Hope Worship Center, told a detective that Rios resigned last April after he confronted him with the accusation that \nhe had a sexual relationship with the girl.\nNo one answered the phone Monday at Rios' home.\nPlane crash injuries pilot, 3 passengers\nDEMOTTE, Ind. -- Investigators are trying to determine why a small plane crashed shortly after takeoff in northwest Indiana, injuring the pilot and three passengers.\nThe plane went down Saturday morning after climbing away from a private runway in rural Jasper County. Pilot John C. Perzee of DeMotte took off from an airstrip just north of his home.\nAs the plane became airborne, it was suddenly forced back down, striking the ground about 50 yards south of the runway, police said.\nPerzee, 52, and his three passengers suffered head injuries. They were treated and released from Porter Memorial Hospital in Valparaiso.\nMuncie attorney appointed to Delaware court\nMUNCIE -- Attorney Marianne Vorhees has been appointed to the judge's bench in Delaware Circuit Court by Gov. Frank O'Bannon.\nVorhees, 43, succeeds follow Democrat Steven Caldemeyer, who retired in September. Her term will run through 2004, when she expects to seek election to a full six-year term.\n"Judge Vorhees is an experienced and trusted individual for this important post," O'Bannon said in a statement. "She has a demonstrated record of achievement in Delaware County and has been a statewide leader in the legal profession."\nVorhees, who is expected to take the bench Tuesday, said she was privileged to be asked to serve.\n"I will conduct the court fairly and with integrity," she told The Star Press.\nVorhees had a law practice in Muncie from 1984 through 2000. She was a part-time commissioner in Caldemeyer's court from 1993 through July 2000, when she became one of three full-time master court commissioners.