ADRIAN (MI)
Daily Telegram
By Dennis Pelham -- Daily Telegram Staff Writer
ADRIAN -- A youth pastor at the Adrian Church of God was convicted Wednesday in Lenawee County Circuit Court in one of three cases of alleged sexual abuse of teenage girls.
A week before he was to go to trial, Phillip Troy Elliott, 30, entered a no-contest plea to one count of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct. He was found guilty by Judge Timothy P. Pickard after reading an Adrian police report in which a 14-year-old girl claimed Elliott had sex with her four or five times from February through April last year.
Two other teenage girls younger than 16 reported Elliott improperly touched them after driving them to his or a relative's home instead of church-related activities.
Defense attorney Stanley Sala of Adrian asked Wednesday for the no-contest plea that allowed Elliott to avoid any admissions that could be used against him in potential civil lawsuits.
Posted by kshaw at March 17, 2005 05:25 PM