December 15, 2004

Minister Accused of Sexually Abusing Teens

LOUISVILLE (KY)
WAVE 3

By Janelle MacDonald

(LOUISVILLE, December 15th, 2004, 5 p.m.) -- A minister and youth mentor now stands accused of abusing the teens he worked with. WAVE 3's Janelle MacDonald has the details.

Detective Rhonda Speaker says Isrom Perry-Johnson worked hard to gain the trust of the teens he worked with. "He just went above and beyond."

The 25-year-old Johnson was most recently a minister at Prince of Peace Church, which has been temporarily holding services in the Baptist Fellowship Center on Catalpa Street. But he also worked with teens at several mentoring programs, mainly in the city's west end.

Speaker says the church's youth began to rely on Johnson for even the most mundane requests. "Different kids would call him late at night and say, 'hey, would you take me to White Castle to go eat?' He'd get up out of bed and take them to White Castle in the middle of the night."

Posted by kshaw at December 15, 2004 06:03 PM