Former Montgomery County Pastor Pleads Guilty to Sex Abuse

By Brian Englar
The News-Post
February 8, 2012

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=131530

Ivey

The former pastor of a Montgomery County church charged with abusing a girl from his congregation entered a guilty plea Tuesday in Frederick County Circuit Court.

Joe Nix Ivey, 74, former pastor of Barnesville Baptist Church, pleaded guilty to a second-degree sex offense. Prosecutors dropped charges of second-degree assault and sex abuse of a minor.

Assistant State's Attorney Tammy Leach asked Judge G. Edward Dwyer to sentence Ivey to 20 years in prison but suspend all but four years. She also asked for five years of supervised probation upon Ivey's release.

Ivey will be required to register for life as a Tier III sex offender and will be forbidden from having contact with the victim, as well as any unsupervised contact with children under 18.

According to charging documents in the case, Ivey abused the girl -- who was between 10 and 11 years old at the time -- while the two were watching a movie after a sleepover at his Walkersville home. The abuse took place between 2009 and 2010, according to court records.

The girl told her parents about the abuse in August 2011, and a phone call between her and Ivey was arranged in an attempt to get Ivey to discuss the encounter. According to charging documents, Ivey told the girl that she should not tell anyone and that what happened was between "you, me and God."

The girl also said Ivey abused her in a similar manner when she was 6.

In an interview with detectives, Ivey initially denied the abuse but eventually admitted to engaging in sexual contact with the girl. He said he didn't remember any previous abuse.

Ivey told the court he has been in counseling since shortly after the abuse.

"I went into counseling to try and find out why I did what I did and why I covered it up for two years," Ivey said.

As part of the plea deal, Ivey's bond was revoked, and he will be held at the Frederick County Adult Detention Center until sentencing March 28. He had been free since September after posting $85,000 bail.

Ivey blew his wife a kiss as he was being taken into custody before transport to the jail.

Ivey was ordered to undergo a psychosexual evaluation and a presentencing investigation before he is sentenced.

State's Attorney Charlie Smith said the sentence recommendations came at the request of the girl's parents, who wanted to keep her from having to testify.

"Personally, I want him jailed for the rest of his life," Smith wrote in an email. "But it's not my child I would have been forcing to testify."