WEST VIRGINIA
Williamson Daily News
by Rachel Baldwin rbaldwin@civitasmedia.com
LENORE – According to information gathered from a criminal complaint filed in Mingo County Magistrate Court, a former youth leader at a church in Lenore is now facing sexual abuse charges.
West Virginia State Police Senior Trooper C.A. Allen says the suspect, 52-year-old Gary Adkins, the 7 year-old victim’s uncle, is accused of inappropriately touching the female child and faces three separate charges that includes two counts of third-degree sexual assault (felony), and one count of sexual abuse (misdemeanor) by a parent, guardian, custodian or person in a position of trust of a child. Adkins was charged Tuesday.
Adkins had been a minister at Parsley Bottom Freewill Baptist Church until a few months ago and had earlier worked as a youth group leader there, and many members of the congregation say the defendant has an excellent reputation and find the allegations hard to believe.
“That’s just not in his character,” Jacqueline Parsley, who used to go to church with Adkins said, during an interview with the media.
“If the family will just be careful and be patient, the truth will come out, guilty or not,” Parsley said.
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