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	Judge Classifies Ex-Cleric As Level 1 Child Porn Case: Former Pastor Rated As Low-Risk Sex Offender Due to Lack of Record By David Winters Watertown Daily Times July 21, 2009 http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20090721/NEWS05/307219959 CANTON — The former pastor of Oswegatchie First Baptist Church was rated a low-risk sex offender for admitting to downloading child pornography. Merton E. Parks, 61, of 469 Oswegatchie Trail Road, Fine, was classified a Level 1 sex offender Monday in St. Lawrence County Court. Parks's score totaled 80 points, which falls into a Level 2 classification. Classification as a Level 2 sex offender is scored from 75 to 105 points, with a Level 3 sex offender rated at 110 points or more. Defense attorney Gary W. Miles said he thought his client should be classified as a Level 1 sex offender. The classification process uses a point system based on factors such as age, previous offenses and ages of the victims. Assistant District Attorney Rosemary R. Phillips opposed the lower classification because of the "severity of the offense." She noted that Parks told probation officials he "indicated he didn't feel what he downloaded was pornography." Judge Jerome J. Richards ruled the lower classification was warranted, citing that Parks had no prior criminal history, the victims weren't physically abused by him and he was doing well on probation supervision. Parks will register as a sex offender with the state for 20 years. He admitted in May to downloading child pornography on a computer at the church in July. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Cyber Crimes Unit tracked a credit card he used to buy the pornography from several Web sites. He resigned from his post in October. Parks previously told county sheriff's investigators that he never molested any area children, but he admitted that downloading child pornography wasn't smart. In other court proceedings: Paul A. Fregoe,25, of 3 Haskell St., Massena, was rated a Level 3 sex offender for admitting to having sex with a 13-year-old girl in September 2007. His score totaled 80 points, which falls into a Level 2 classification. Judge Richards bumped him up one level because Fregoe already was classified a Level 3 sex offender, considered the most likely to reoffend. He admitted to raping a different 13-year-old girl in June 2007.
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