BARTOW (FL)
The Ledger
By Jason Geary
The Ledger
BARTOW -- A former Wahneta evangelist pleaded guilty Friday to sexually abusing a 6-year-old Polk County boy in 1996.
With his trial looming Monday, Robert Enersen, 54, accepted a deal with prosecutors.
Enersen pleaded guilty to three counts of lewd molestation in exchange for 18 years in prison and 10 years' sex-offender probation. Enersen also would be declared a sexual predator.
Judge Roger Alcott scheduled sentencing for Aug. 19.
In December, Enersen was arrested in Arizona after the Polk County boy, now 15, told sheriff's detectives about the abuse. The boy told detectives that he was molested multiple times in late 1996.
At that time, Enersen was serving about two months as an evangelist at New Life Assembly of God in Wahneta.
"It just blew us away," said Sonja Farrer, the church's business administrator. "We could not believe that it happened."