Youth Mentor Not Guilty in Broward Molestation Case

By Pafael Olmeda
Sun Sentinel
April 10, 2014

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fort-lauderdale/fl-jeffery-london-verdict-watch-20140410,0,5189689.story

Seven men accused Jeffery London of sexually molesting them while they were teenagers in his care. Text messages from his phone contained lewd propositions. His wife said she walked in on him in bed with a 16-year-old boy.

But the evidence presented in Broward court last week and this week was not enough to convince the jury.

Four men and two women found London, 50, not guilty of 27 counts of lewd and lascivious conduct and sexual battery of a minor. The jury deliberated for six hours over two days before announcing their decision.

"Thank you. Praise the Lord," London said after Broward Circuit Judge Michael Usan read the verdicts.

London, a former youth mentor at Bible Church of God in Fort Lauderdale and former dean of students at Eagle Charter Academy in Lauderdale Lakes, still faces similar charges stemming from accusations made by five more teenagers. He remains in custody without bond at the Broward Main Jail awaiting trial.

But the verdict was hailed as a major victory by his lawyer and his family. London faced life in prison if convicted Thursday, and still faces that sentence if convicted on the remaining charges.

"I raised my children in the proper manner," said his mother, Clara London. "We taught them and trained them to be respectful."

London was one of nine children, and he testified Tuesday that he always felt a calling to help people less fortunate than himself. From the late 1990s until the beginning of 2012, he often had teenage boys stay at his home in Coral Springs, then Lauderdale Lakes, when they had nowhere else to go.

Prosecutors Justin Griffis and Imabel Ocasio said London's hospitality was a cover for predatory conduct. At least 12 former guests of London's home accused him of trading sexual favors for money, video games and clothes.

The alleged abuse took place from 2000 until 2011, but the first accusations only came to light shortly before London's arrest in January 2012. Prosecutors said there was no DNA evidence to collect — a factor that worked to the advantage of defense lawyer Lourdes Gonzalez.

Gonzalez also told jurors that the incriminating text messages were sent at times that London could easily have been engaged in church activities, meaning someone else — one of his accusers — had access to his phone.

Jurors did not comment as they left the courthouse Thursday.

London's mother said her family harbors no ill will toward his accusers.

"He was good to all those children," she said. "We still love them. What they did, they didn't do it against us. They did it against themselves."

Gonzalez predicted that future trials will end as this one did.

"The evidence isn't even there," she said.

Griffis said he was disappointed by Thursday's verdicts, but looking forward to bringing the other cases in front of a jury. He said he is not sure whether the cases will be tried separately or consolidated.

"We're going to sit down with the remaining victims and strategize how we're going to move forward," he said. "I'm confident in the remaining cases, and hopeful that while this jury didn't see it, the next one will."

London is due in court for a status hearing on April 30.

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