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	Cleric Held for Trial in Sex Abuse of Minors By Christine Olley Philadelphia Daily News October 31, 2007 http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20071031_Cleric_held_for_trial_in_sex_abuse_of_minors.html After allegedly performing oral sex on a 15-year-old boy, James Wilkerson - the boy's karate teacher and youth minister - told the teen, now 16, it was to improve his martial-arts skills, the teen testified yesterday in Family Court. Dressed in a striped blue shirt and black pants, the youth spoke clearly to Judge Ann Butchart of the alleged abuse he suffered at the hands of Wilkerson, then the youth minister at Summerfield-Siloam United Methodist Church, on Dauphin Street near Tulip, in Kensington. Throughout the boy's testimony, Wilkerson remained silent except for a few times when he whispered in his attorney's ear. Butchart held Wilkerson for trial on charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor, endangering the welfare of a child and corrupting the morals of a minor. Assistant District Attorney Richard DeSipio said Wilkerson would face charges involving only two of the six alleged victims because the four others didn't testify. The teen said the abuse began last November while the youth group was watching a martial-arts movie at the church. "He fell asleep on my lap and moved his hands toward my private area," the teen said. "I didn't think anything of it at the time; I just thought that he was moving around in his sleep." During a retreat to Ocean City, Md., in January, Wilkerson's alleged deviant behavior continued. Wilkerson woke the boy up by giving him oral sex while another adult group leader and two other boys slept in the same room, the teen said. "He told me that now I was a part of his family and that now all of his secrets would become mine," the teen testified. "He told me that in order to become a great martial artist, I would have to do things that normal people wouldn't necessarily do. He said I had to become a bisexual." During another church retreat to a cabin in Lancaster shortly after, Wilkerson and the boy were asleep under a table because there wasn't enough room in the cabin for everyone to have a bed. "He turned around and grabbed my penis and put it in his butt," the youth said. He also testified that the alleged abuse made him feel manipulated and forced him to question his faith, but that Wilkerson told him that God would forgive him. After the Lancaster retreat, the teen said, the abuse continued almost every weekend until May, when the teen confided in a friend about his awful secret. The 16-year-old's half-brother, a 13-year-old boy, also testified yesterday about the abuse he allegedly suffered at Wilkerson's hands. He told prosecutor DeSipio about two games that Wilkerson played with the boys in his youth group. One game, called Chicago, involved Wilkerson's slapping the boys' backsides. Another game, called Cheese Curl, involved Wilkerson inserting two fingers in his own rectum, the half-brother testified. Before Judge Butchart held Wilkerson for trial, DeSipio told the judge that Wilkerson's case was one of "manipulation and betrayal and evil at its highest level." DeSipio said,"Crimes like this are opportunistic; people like this prey on basic human insecurities. "To me, these cases are the worst," he added. "It's not only the sexual abuse of a child, but it's the betrayal of the child's trust, the families and the church." Wilkerson's attorney, Roger Schrading, said after the proceedings that his client would plead not guilty at trial and that he expected he would be cleared of all charges. Contact: olleyc@phillynews.com or 215-854-5184.
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