The SMU alumnus arrested for trespassing on campus last month has stepped down as a deacon of Highland Park Presbyterian Church, officials confirmed Tuesday to the Dallas Morning News .

Bill McNutt III was listed on the church Web site as an elder as recently as Feb. 26, when news of his arrest was first reported. Church officials declined to discuss the matter or say what prompted McNutt to step down from the leadership post.

“Mr. Bill McNutt is a member of our church family. We are prayerfully ministering to him and his family,” senior pastor the Rev. Dr. Ron Scates said in a written statement. “McNutt has stepped down from the office of deacon.”

McNutt, 54, who lives in University Park, did not return a call for comment Tuesday.
The church development is the latest response to his arrest at SMU. Last month, he resigned as chairman of the Texas Commission on the Arts, where he served as an appointee of Gov. Rick Perry.
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The arrest for trespassing has raised many questions that are still unanswered. SMU officials said they warned McNutt in writing last November to stay off the campus. The warning was the result of “multiple” complaints from female students, according to SMU, “alleging behavior that violates university policy, such as offering alcohol to minors.”

Yet campus officials have not indicated that they are pursuing anything other than the trespassing charge against McNutt. He was arrested by SMU police and booked into the Dallas County jail. SMU has also refused to release any police reports related to the complaints or the arrest, saying private universities are not required to disclose them.

McNutt’s family is known for the Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana