BishopAccountability.org
	A Former Seventh Day Adventist Church Official Has Avoided Jail after Pleading Guilty to the Sexual Abuse of a Seven-Year-Old Girl Adelaide Now July 22, 2007 http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,22113022-5006301,00.html Australia — Keith Phillip Langton, 79, of Moonta on Yorke Peninsula, pleaded guilty to one count of indecent assault, which occurred 27 years ago. A similar charge was dropped by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions as part of the plea bargain deal. Langton, who was a school superintendent with the church at the time of the offending, was arrested by Pedophile Task Force detectives in September 2005 following a long investigation. In sentencing Langton in the District Court on Wednesday, Judge Gordon Barrett said, although he was only being sentenced on the basis there was that single offence, he did "not entirely accept" this incident "was so isolated that it can be said to have come out of the blue". "On the basis of the statement of the victim, I find that you had a sexual interest in her, but you largely managed to suppress it," he said. Judge Barrett said Langton had always been troubled by the abuse and had "made a couple of ineffective efforts to express your remorse". "I accept that you have made a form of confession to the girl's father, who unhelpfully said that if he had a gun he would shoot you," he told Langton. "I find also that you admitted in a general way to her mother that you had done something wrong. "You have never made a proper apology to the girl and you seem to be in a form of denial about it." Judge Barrett said Langton had attended seven sessions of counselling after police became aware of the offending, but had discontinued it. He said Langton had specifically denied to a psychiatrist the act which constitutes the offence "to which you have pleaded guilty". "While your religion has given you some assistance in dealing with your feelings of recrimination about what you did, it has not helped you tender a simple apology to the girl, who is now a 34-year-old woman," he said. "Now that these proceedings are over, you may care to reflect on that". Judge Barrett said if it was not for Langton's guilty plea he would have fixed a sentence of two years. He instead imposed an 18-month sentence with a non-parole period of nine months. He then suspended the sentence and imposed a two-year, $500 good behaviour bond.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.