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	Pastor Joe Flowers Violated Trust, Prosecutors Say in Sex-abuse Trial By Jon Hand Democrat and Chronicle July 13, 2011 http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20110713/NEWS01/110713019 Prosecutors this afternoon told jurors a local pastor violated the trust of many people, in particular one young boy, when he repeatedly sexually assaulted that boy at his home. Bishop Joe N. Flowers is on trial this week facing a charge of second-degree course of sexual conduct against a child. He is accused of having had sexual contact with a boy younger than 13 from 2007 to 2010. “Joe Flowers. Uncle Joe. Bishop Flowers. Different names, one man. Violations of trust on many levels,” Assistant District Attorney Sara Van Strydonck said in her opening statement to the freshly seated jury. Van Strydonck told jurors that Flowers regularly had young boys from his church stay overnight in his home, having gained the trust of the youths and their parents because of his position in the church and his demeanor. All of the abuse is alleged to have taken place in the “bonus room” and a shower of Flowers’ Henrietta home. Flowers’ lawyer, Maurice Verrillo, urged jurors to examine the facts of the case, as opposed to accepting the numerous claims they will hear on face value. “You’re going to hear a lot of claims,” he said. “But you’re going to be asked to use your common sense.” Flowers was scheduled to go to trial at the beginning of June, but Monroe County Court Judge James J. Piampiano moved the trial to this week because of a new indictment alleging that Flowers had sexual contact from 2005 to 2007 with a second boy younger than 16. Piampiano said the delay would allow the prosecution and defense to see whether evidence in the new indictment would have any impact on the previous case. No trial date has been set in the new case. Flowers, 41, is pastor of Walk of Life Christian Center in Rochester. Both boys attended the church. Flowers has lived in the community for 22 years, has three children and has no criminal history. He has been pastor at the church since founding it in November 1994 along with his wife and co-pastor, Sheryl Y. Flowers. Flowers faces up to 11 years in prison if convicted in both cases.
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