BishopAccountability.org

Sunday school teacher sent to jail for sex with girl, 13

By Melinda Miller
Buffalo News
November 24, 2015

http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/sunday-school-teacher-sent-to-jail-for-sex-with-girl-13-20151124

Four lines ... Caleb Sexton here

The Sunday school student sexually abused by her teacher – a teacher who also was the son of her minister – was so disturbed by what was happening that she began cutting herself and considering suicide.

The young victim described how Caleb Sexton’s abuse was emotional as well as sexual.

“He never apologized or showed remorse, even when he found out I was hurting myself,” she wrote in her victim’s impact statement in a letter to Erie County Judge Kenneth E. Case. “Caleb was an adult, 13 years older … He misused God and the Bible to try to justify his sexual behavior.”

The girl, who was 13 when the abuse began and is now in high school, said she continues to have flashbacks, trouble eating, and difficulty trusting people and making new friends.

The victim’s family was in the courtroom Tuesday when Sexton was sentenced to six months in jail and 10 years on intensive sexual offender probation on his conviction for criminal sexual act in the third degree. Originally charged with second-degree criminal sexual act, second-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child, he pleaded to the lesser offenses on Sept. 9.

Before sentencing, Sexton’s attorney asked the judge to see the good side of his client.

“Caleb Sexton is not a predator,” attorney Michael Seibert said. “He is merely a man who made poor decisions that will haunt him the rest of his life.”

Sexton still had trouble expressing outright remorse before the court.

“I acted in a way that was careless and extremely selfish. I had no idea how it would hurt the victim,” Sexton told the judge . “This process has been humiliating for me. I cannot imagine how it is for my victim and her family.”

Now 28, he said he had no excuses for the behavior that ruined his reputation. He said he is attending a Christian-based therapy group to help him be a better person.

Sexton lived in Lancaster at the time of his arrest in September 2014, after the girl’s mother came forward with complaints that he was sexting her child and making other sexual demands via the Internet. It later was revealed that he also had sexual relations with the girl inside the Hedstrom Baptist Church in Cheektowaga, where his father was pastor and Sexton taught Sunday school. He and the girl, one of his Sunday school students, reportedly became Facebook friends when she was 12. The relationship escalated from there.

Following his arrest, Sexton lost his volunteer position as boys soccer coach at West Seneca Christian School and was banned from the school’s property.

Before sentencing, the judge commended the young victim for coming forward and condemned Sexton for his actions.

“There is a reason why statues don’t allow victims that age to give consent,” Case said. “She looked up to you, and instead she got control, domination and abuse. To this day and probably forever she will have to deal with the consequences of your actions.”

The judge said that Sexton is obligated to comply with every provision of his 10-year probation – no contact with any children, which means not going to malls or movie theaters or any other places where children congregate, not having a cellphone that can take photos, and not having any contact with his victim for 10 years.

As a final note, Case said that if he heard from any authorities in Buffalo, Cheektowaga, Lancaster or elsewhere that Sexton had violated his probation in any way, it would mean a return to prison.

Contact: mmiller@buffnews.com




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