FORT WORTH (TX)
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
By MARTHA DELLER
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
FORT WORTH -- Former church pastor Larry Nuell Neathery was convicted Monday of 25 felony charges involving sexual assault or molestation of five boys -- two neighbors and three relatives -- in his Fort Worth home and church.
A Tarrant County jury took barely an hour to find Neathery guilty on each count, including 13 aggravated sexual assault convictions that could send the 56-year-old man to prison for life. The nine-man, three-woman jury also convicted him of seven counts of indecency by sexual contact; two sexual-performance counts that carry 20-year maximum prison terms; and two counts of indecency by exposure and one count of attempted sexual assault, which have 10-year maximum prison terms.
Neathery, former pastor of Westside Victory Baptist Church near River Oaks, stood stoically late Monday afternoon as Judge Mike Thomas began reading the verdicts in Criminal District Court No. 4.
As Thomas began reading the last six-count verdict, convicting him of molesting a young grandson, Neathery bowed his head, hiding tears from most in the courtroom.