Jeffery London Not Guilty in Broward Molestation Case

By Rafael Olmeda
Sun Sentinel
April 9, 2014

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fort-lauderdale/fl-jeffery-london-closings-verdict-20140409,0,5355107.story

Jeffery London, 50, is on trial in Broward County, accused of sexually molesting four teenagers under his care at his Lauderdale Lakes home in the last decade. He faces life in prison if convicted. (Rafael Olmeda, Sun Sentinel / April 1, 2014)

UPDATE: A Broward jury has acquitted Jeffery London of all 27 counts of lewd and lascivious conduct and sexual battery on a minor.

The allegations against London, 50, were brought by seven men who were teenagers when London took them in temporarily at various times between 2000 and 2011.

London wept and thanked God after the verdicts were read.

There are still related charges pending against London involving other victims.

Previous article follows:

[with video]

They trusted him. They loved him. They looked to him as a father figure. And Jeffery London betrayed that trust by sexually molesting the boys in his care, prosecutors said Wednesday.

A Broward jury began deliberating late Wednesday afternoon over whether London was a serial pedophile or, as his defense lawyer argued, a kind man whose good deeds are being punished by opportunistic fortune seekers.

London, 50, of Lauderdale Lakes, faces life in prison if convicted of 27 counts of lewd and lascivious conduct and sexual battery on a child. He was a youth mentor at Bible Church of God in Fort Lauderdale and the dean of students at Eagle Academy Charter School.

The allegations first surfaced in 2011, with more than a dozen teenagers eventually coming forward.

Prosecutor Justin Griffis reminded jurors of the testimony of seven men, all of whom told similar stories of how their difficult family lives led them to stay with London temporarily at his home in Coral Springs and, later, Lauderdale Lakes. The men said London traded money, clothing and video games for sexual favors.

"The defendant got on the stand and talked and talked and talked. He holds himself out to the public as a righteous man" whose goal was to help the boys, Griffis said. "But in the process of sexually abusing them repeatedly, year after year after decade, he nearly destroyed them."

Griffis also cited text messages sent from London's cell phone to several boys, sometimes making lewd and explicit statements about sex acts he wanted to perform on them.

But defense lawyer Lourdes Gonzalez told jurors that the phone was not in London's possession when those text messages were sent – it was actually in the possession of one of the accusers, whose names are being withheld because of the nature of the allegations.

Gonzalez said the first accuser made up the abuse story because he was angry that London ordered him to leave his home. Others had various reasons for concocting false allegations, she said, including a plan to sue London.

"This generation is different," she said. "They don't think anything of falsely accusing people."

Only one lawsuit has been filed against London, by a John Doe plaintiff naming London as the sole defendant.

And Imabel Ocasio, the second prosecutor on the case, reminded jurors that London was broke even before the lawsuit was filed.

Deliberations are scheduled to continue Thursday morning.

raolmeda@tribune.com, 954-356-4457, Twitter @SSCourts