DELAWARE
Daily Times
By ALEX ROSE
arose@delcotimes.com
@arosedelco
MEDIA COURTHOUSE — A former senior member of a controversial church pleaded guilty Tuesday to four counts of indecent sexual assault without consent and two charges of corrupting the morals of a minor for molesting four young female church members between 1981 and 1988.
Richard Bellingham, 58, of Newark, Del., was arrested in June after former members of the congregation came forward to describe physical and sexual abuse when they were between 4 and 15 years old.
The first victim alerted Pennsylvania State Police and the Delaware County District Attorney’s office to the abuse in January, telling them that Bellingham began molesting her in 1981 when he lived with her family.
That woman, now 39, said her family belonged to the Church of Our Savior at the time, where her father served as a high-ranking member. Bellingham was a close friend of her father.
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