BishopAccountability.org
	Former Minister Guilty of Sex Abuse By Marty Roney Montgomery Advertiser September 20, 2006 http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060920/NEWS/609200355/1001 Wetumpka -- The former minister of a Wetumpka church has pleaded guilty to charges of sexually abusing children. Garrett Dykes, 40, entered a guilty plea Tuesday in Elmore County Circuit Court to four counts of production of obscene matter of people younger than 17 and nine counts of sexual abuse of three victims younger than 12, courthouse records state. Dykes videotaped the abuse, according to court records. He faces 10 years to life in prison on each pornography charge and one to 10 years on each sexual abuse charge, said District Attorney Randall Houston. Dykes will be sentenced Oct. 27, Houston said. Dykes was removed as minister of Calvary Baptist Church after his arrest in November 2004. "We have removed a camera-carrying pedophile from the streets," Houston said. "We made sure he won't be able to harm any other children for a long time. This office holds some people up to a higher standard, and that includes ministers and law enforcement officers. This man was a minister. His job was to help people, not prey on children." Dykes' attorney, D. Wayne Perdue of Prattville, declined to comment. Dykes will be sentenced Sept. 27 in federal court on a charge of sexually abusing a child younger than 12, court records state. He faces a minimum 15-year sentence in the federal case. mroney@gannett.com
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