By Paul Pinkham
Jacksonville.com
May 21, 2009
http://www.jacksonville.com/news/metro/crime/2009-05-21/story/former_jacksonville_pastor_pleads_guilty_in_sex_case
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| Gilyard |
Darrell Gilyard faces 3 years in prison, must register as sex offender
A former pastor faces three years in prison after pleading guilty Thursday to molesting a teenage girl from his Jacksonville church and sending lewd messages to another.
The Rev. Darrell Gilyard, former pastor of Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church, also will be required to register as a sex offender under terms of his plea agreement. His prison sentence will be followed by three years of sex-offender probation, limiting his contact with children and where he can live and work.
“You taught us the truth ... but you lived a lie,” one victim’s mother told Gilyard, 47, in court. She said she’d continue praying for him.
Circuit Judge Michael Weatherby scheduled sentencing June 11. He warned Gilyard, who remains free on his own recognizance, to show up or face the full 15-year sentence allowed for second-degree felonies.
Gilyard and his attorney, Hank Coxe, left court out a back door to avoid reporters. Later, Gilyard told the Times-Union he recognizes he is not yet in a position to ask for forgiveness.
“I stood in court today recognizing that I made serious mistakes and that I disappointed a great number of people,” Gilyard said. “It is my intention when this is all over to make it up to everyone as best I can.”
Gilyard was arrested 16 months ago. He had been charged with two counts of lewd conduct involving sexually explicit text messages sent to teenage girls and one count of lewd molestation for fondling a teenage girl whose parents brought her to him for counseling. The girls were 14 and 15 at the time.
Assistant State Attorney Alan Mizrahi said one of the texting counts was dropped as part of the plea agreement. That count involved the same girl who was molested.
Mizrahi said both girls’ families were “very happy” with the deal.
So was a woman who writes a blog titled “let’s stop pastor darrell gilyard together.” Tiffany Thigpen Croft said she watched Thursday’s court proceedings with a mixture of satisfaction for Gilyard’s victims and sadness for the self-imposed downfall of a talented preacher. Most importantly, she said Gilyard won’t be able to harm anyone else while locked up.
“This is for all the victims that were never heard,” she said. “It’s time to heal.”
A Palatka native, Gilyard rose quickly to prominence after seminary. While still in his 20s, he pastored Victory Baptist Church in Texas, one of the nation’s 10 fastest-growing congregations.
He was mentored by the Rev. Jerry Vines, pastor of Jacksonville’s First Baptist Church, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Paige Patterson, both former Southern Baptist Convention presidents.
Gilyard left Victory amid accusations of sexual impropriety and came to Shiloh in 1993. Court records indicate the West Beaver Street church quietly settled a sexual misconduct allegation against him in 1996.
Last month Gilyard and the church settled another lawsuit filed by a woman who said he raped and impregnated her during a 2004 counseling session. Terms were confidential, and no criminal charges were filed. A judge has ordered him to undergo a paternity test.
In court Thursday, the molestation victim’s mother told Gilyard she recalled a sermon Gilyard preached years ago titled “Sin Is an Inside Job.” She accused him of abusing his position and said her daughter now has a hard time accepting God as a loving father.
“I’m not sure that my daughter will ever want to set foot in another church,” she said. When she finished, several people in the gallery applauded. The woman and her husband quickly left the courtroom without further comment.
Nationally, David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests in St. Louis, issued a statement calling on Vines and Patterson to reach out to Gilyard’s victims.
“We are glad that these two wounded, brave girls will be spared from the ordeal of a trial,” Clohessy said. “All Floridians should be grateful to every Gilyard victim who has spoken up, called police and cooperated in getting him removed.”
While on probation after he leaves prison, Gilyard won’t be able to live within 1,000 feet or work at a school or other place where children regularly gather. He can have no unsupervised contact with children without court permission, must undergo psychosexual counseling and will be subject to electronic monitoring.
Contact: paul.pinkham@jacksonville.com, or (904) 359-4107
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