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	Ex-Pastor Convicted of Child Sex Abuse Wilmington Star-News [North Carolina] April 20, 2007 http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070420/NEWS/704200430/1004 The former pastor of a Warsaw church was convicted Wednesday by a Duplin County Superior Court jury of two counts of first-degree rape of a child less than 13 years old and other sex offenses, prosecutors said. Thomas Lindell Robinson, 57, also was convicted of two counts each of first-degree sexual offense on a child less than 13 years old and indecent liberties with a child. He was sentenced to a prison term of 26 to 33 years by Judge W. Allen Cobb Jr. Robinson, former pastor of the New Life Christian Center, was charged in January 2006 after allegations were made about the sexual abuse of a girl who went to a day care center on church grounds that has since closed. The incidents occurred between 2004 and October 2005, according to Duplin County District Attorney G. Dewey Hudson. The victim testified at the trial that she was 12 years old when she had sex with Robinson. Prosecutor J.B. Askins introduced DNA evidence that showed there was a 99.99 percent probability that Robinson was the father of a child conceived during the relationship. The baby subsequently died of natural causes, Hudson said. The jury deliberated about 90 minutes before coming back with guilty verdicts. Robinson, of Clinton in Sampson County, will be in his 80s before he is eligible for release from prison. "I hope this sentence sends a strong message to people who prey on young children that this criminal behavior will not be tolerated," Hudson said in a prepared statement.
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