By Tracy Agnew and Matthew A. Ward

Portsmouth police have arrested a Suffolk minister on a charge of rape.

Trevon Boone, 39, turned himself in just after 6 p.m. on Tuesday after learning of the charge, according to a press release from Portsmouth police.

Boone is the pastor at Tabernacle Baptist Outreach Center in Suffolk.

According to Portsmouth detectives, Boone came into contact with the alleged victim, who was under the age of 18 at the time, when he was a minister at a local church. Police did not specify which church.

“Boone began to mentor the victim and during that time he is alleged to have forced her to have sex with him,” according to the press release.

The alleged victim is an adult now. Detective Misty Holley of the Portsmouth Police Department said they believe there may be more victims.

Boone preached his first sermon at Tabernacle Baptist Outreach Center, located on Nansemond Parkway, in September 2012. He had previously served as a youth pastor at New Mount Joy Food for Living Ministries, the church in which he grew up.

In a 2012 interview with the Suffolk News-Herald on becoming the pastor, he said he earned a bachelor’s degree in public administration from Virginia State University and then earned two degrees from the William P. Wiggins Bible Institute at New Mount Joy.

He married in January 2013, according to his Facebook page.

The Suffolk News-Herald was ordered off the church property when a reporter knocked on the door of the church seeking comment Wednesday.

“We are not saying anything. We are not taking any calls. Please get off the premises,” a woman who briefly opened the door said.

Nobody answered the phone Wednesday at his former church, New Mount Joy.

Some of Boone’s family and friends didn’t return Facebook messages and emails on Wednesday. His Facebook timeline is filled with updates on church services and advertisements for special church events, as well as messages from parishioners, many of whom called him simply “Pastor T.”

His Facebook page also lists employment with the city of Suffolk, but city spokeswoman Diana Klink said his employment as a housing and property maintenance inspector ended in November 2012.

Those who shared their reaction on Facebook seemed shocked.

“I don’t think it’s Trevon don’t seem like that type,” user Andrea Braxton commented on the Suffolk News-Herald Facebook page. She also shared the story with a note that read, in part, “That’s crazy the mighty man of God I know wouldn’t do such a thing.”

Detectives are continuing to investigate and are asking anyone with information related to the case to call the Portsmouth Police Department’s Special Victims Unit at 393-8536.