VIRGINIA
Roanoke Times
By Luanne Rife luanne.rife@roanoke.com 981-3209
LEXINGTON — A Rockbridge County jury on Wednesday found a former Buena Vista preacher molested a teenage parishioner during the three years he attended the Pentecostal Outreach Church, and recommended the ex-pastor be sentenced to serve 35 years in prison.
“I will continue to say I’m not guilty, your honor,” Larry McKinley Clark told Rockbridge County Circuit Court Judge Michael Irvine before the judge agreed with the jury’s verdict and set sentencing for Jan. 5.
Defense attorney Kelly Cutler said Clark will appeal. The jury deliberated for less than an hour before returning guilty verdicts on all counts of indecent assault and having carnal knowledge of a minor.
“This is wonderful,” said prosecutor Christopher Billias. “It was such a fast deliberation. Usually it doesn’t go in our favor when it is so quick.”
The case hinged mostly on the testimony of the now 16-year-old boy who was reluctant to talk about the assaults and gave inconsistent answers under cross-examination. He strained to provide answers, and though allowed to testify via closed circuit television, he appeared distressed and confused.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.