STAUNTON (VA)
News Leader
February 6, 2018
By Laura Peters
STAUNTON — William L. Kerr is facing years in prison after he pleaded guilty to seven charges involving possession of child pornography and aggravated sexual battery.
Kerr, 75, appeared in Staunton Circuit Court on Tuesday afternoon.
The Staunton man pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography and six counts of aggravated sexual battery. He faces up to 125 years in prison.
Nearly 45 other charges, including forcible sodomy, possession of child pornography and aggravated sexual battery, were not prosecuted.
According to evidence presented by Anne Reed, the chief deputy commonwealth’s attorney for Staunton, between 1990 and 2004, Kerr invited several young girls ranging in ages 7 to 11 back to his Staunton home.
“Kerr would frequently invite children over to his house,” Reed said. “The defendant would get the girls alone.”
But, to these children, he served as an authority figure and their Sunday school teacher at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Parish in Staunton. During Reed’s stipulation, she said many of the girls were fearful to come forward and tell someone about the abuse.
Reed said the abused children, now adults, attended St. Francis with their families.
“The defendant was trusted by her parents, who worked in the church,” Reed said of one of the victims. “At the age of 9 years old, the defendant started to sexually abuse her while she was at his residence.
“She was afraid to say anything that was happening to her out of fear of hurting the defendant’s wife, whom she cared for very much as well as concern of upsetting her parents,” Reed continued. “It was not until several years later that she was able to disclose what had happened and seek counseling.”
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