VIRGINIA
Style Weekly
January 12, 2005
After more than a year spent in limbo, the Rev. Joe Ellison Jr.’s battle in the courts as the result of sexual abuse allegations against him is finally over.
“They’ve officially dropped criminal charges,” Ellison says of the Chesterfield County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, which had prosecuted him.
Henrico County police initially charged Ellison Dec. 17, 2003, with four counts of taking indecent liberties with a minor and one count of aggravated sexual battery, based on information from the county’s Department of Social Services.
The alleged victim was a 16-year-old girl who had been in the Ellisons’ custody for four years, police said. She alleged the incidents occurred during that time.
Because of Ellison’s ties to the Henrico County community, where he is pastor of Essex Village Community Church and founder of its community-outreach and child-care centers, Chesterfield County prosecutor Duncan Minton took over the case.