Sex Abuse Trial Begins for Former Youth Pastor Jeffery London

By Gilma Avalos
NBC Miami
April 2, 2014

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Sex-Abuse-Trial-Begins-for-Former-Youth-Pastor-Jeffery-London-253496061.html

Now 25-years-old, a witness took the stand Tuesday against the man who allegedly sexually abused him for almost a decade when he was a child.

The victim didn't want to look at Jeffery London, 50, a former youth pastor. London, who was a mentor at the Bible Church of God and dean of students at Eagle Charter Academy, is being tried for 27 counts of lewd and lascivious molestation and sexual battery on a minor, according to the Sun Sentinel.

"I don't want to look at him," the victim said on the stand.

"Let me ask the question. Do you see the person in the courtroom here today who sexually abused you from the age of 11 to 18?" prosecutors asked.

"Yes," he responded.

The victim said London would promise him rewards like money, games and clothing in exchange for sexual favors.

Another victim who took the stand said he and other children moved in with London because they came from families with financial struggles and did not have father figures in their lives.

"I considered him to be a father figure," the victim said.

He said even after being abused as a child and moving out to go to college, he eventually moved back in with London because he didn't have anywhere else to go. The man said the abuse went on until he was 23.

"That just stopped when I told him I'm married and I'm not doing it anymore," he said.

The men were asked to testify about why they kept the alleged abuse secret.

"The fear of being ridiculed is big for me, my self esteem is always low," he said. "I didn't think anyone would believe me. I didn't have a support system. I had no one to go to."

Since London was arrested in 2012, at least 10 men have accused him of molestation while the men were pre-teens through their teenage years, the Sentinel reported. London faces life in prison if convicted, according to the newspaper.