Overview

• Officers were called around 2 a.m. on July 13 after witnesses saw John Frank Gibson leave the five-year-old strapped in his SUV outside a Ross Clark Circle bar; Gibson then parked at a 24-hour restaurant and left the child unattended.
• Gibson faces a single count of endangering the welfare of a child under Alabama law, which deems leaving a minor alone in a vehicle as child endangerment.
• The Alabama Department of Human Resources evaluated the child, found no injuries; it then transferred the toddler to protective custody pending placement with family members.
• Gibson, who served as associate pastor for families at First Baptist Church of Dothan, resigned from his position following his arrest on July 13.
• He was released on a $500 bond; he awaits further court proceedings on the endangerment charge.