BishopAccountability.org

Local youth minister charged with sexual abuse of a juvenile

By Samantha Perry
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
January 13, 2016

http://www.bdtonline.com/news/local-youth-minister-charged-with-sexual-abuse-of-a-juvenile/article_b471add4-b9a7-11e5-a630-17ebe3d2419b.html

Detective K.L. Adams escorts James Lilly, 24, of Bluefield into magistrate court at the Bluefield city building Tuesday. Lilly, a local youth minister, was arraigned on one count of second-degree sexual assault and 31 counts of first-degree sexual abuse.

BLUEFIELD — A transgender Bluefield man involved in youth ministry at local Episcopal churches was arrested Tuesday and charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse of a juvenile.

James “Jimmy” Lilly, 24, was charged with one count of incest, one count of second-degree sexual assault and 31 counts of first-degree sexual abuse, Detective K.L. Adams, with the Bluefield Police Department, said.

Adams said the victim in the case is a juvenile female. He said the abuse began in 2009 when the victim was 9 to 10 years old, and continued until she was 16.

The alleged abuse in the case took place at a home, and not a church, Adams said.

“Mr. Lilly, by his own admission, is transgender,” Adams said. “He is in the process of becoming a woman.”

Adams said Lilly has a bachelor of arts degree in religion from Hampden Sydney College in Farmville, Va., and has worked at numerous churches including those in Farmville and Mechanicsville, Va., and Atlanta, Ga. Locally, he was involved at the Episcopal churches in both Bluefields.

Lilly is also in the process of getting a teaching degree at Bluefield State College, Adams said.

“We are asking anyone who has had interaction with him, good or bad, to come forward,” Adams said, noting, “There may be another victim out there.”

“He was a youth minister, but also involved with children in other ways,” Adams said.

The Rev. Father Russ Hatfield, pastor of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Bluefield, Va., said Tuesday evening that Lilly never held any leadership role at St. Mary’s.

“He was an acolyte, or altar boy,” Hatfield said. “He was a member of the youth group with the Diocese of Southwest Virginia.

“Jimmy has not attended church here regularly for several years,” Hatfield said.

Adams said he was notified of the alleged crimes in early December and the subsequent investigation led to Tuesday’s arrest.

Lilly was arraigned Tuesday afternoon before Mercer County Magistrate Sandra Dorsey, who set a $125,000 cash or surety bond.

Lilly made bond, and was ordered by Dorsey to have “no direct contact with the victim.”

Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact the Bluefield Police Department at 304-327-6101.

Contact: sperry@bdtonline.com




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