Molestation trial begins for former youth mentor

FLORIDA
Sun Sentinel

By Rafael Olmeda, Sun Sentinel
8:17 p.m. EDT, April 1, 2014

Through sobs, a 21-year-old man told a Broward jury Tuesday how he really feels about the man accused of raping him repeatedly as a teenager.

“I still love him.”

The accuser, whose name is being withheld because of the nature of the accusations, had just finished telling the jury that he was initiated into years of sexual abuse by former youth mentor Jeffery London, 50, who is being tried for 27 counts of lewd and lascivious molestation and sexual battery on a minor.

London, who lived in Lauderdale Lakes when he was arrested, faces life in prison if convicted. The charges involve four separate accusers, one of whom took the stand Tuesday. London, who served as a mentor at the Bible Church of God in Fort Lauderdale and as dean of students at Eagle Charter Academy in Lauderdale Lakes from 2003-09, was arrested in 2012 when abuse allegations came to light.

Since then, at least 10 men have accused him of molestation, all while the men were as young as pre-teens through their teenage years.

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