Ex-pastor Fails in Bid for Release
Star Press
If Joseph Pennington — the former Hartford City youth pastor convicted of having a sexual relationship with 15-year-old congregation member — hoped to rehabilitate his image, this probably won’t help. The Indiana Court of Appeals this week rejected Pennington’s appeal of the eight-year prison term he received last September from Blackford Circuit Court Judge Dean Young. In rejecting the 33-year-old Pennington’s argument that his sentence was “inappropriate in light of the nature of his offense and his character,” the appeals court referred in part to allegations that were never aired during public court proceedings. Pennington’s case was not resolved through a trial, but by his guilty plea to sexual misconduct with a minor, a Class B felony that carried a standard 10-year sentence. His victim did not testify at last year’s sentencing hearing, but in a statement read aloud in the courtroom that day by her mother, the girl said Pennington “began brainwashing me when I was 14,” and later “took my first kiss (and) my virginity” when she was 15. The girl also recounted the devastating impact her dealings with Pennington had on her relationship with her parents and her schoolwork. In upholding the ex-youth pastor’s sentence, the appeals court referred to a court report that revealed that: • After a neighbor witnessed “inappropriate contact” between the youth pastor and the teen, Pennington was told by “church leadership” that he was “never to be alone” with the girl. Within two months of that warning, the court wrote, “Pennington was kissing, fondling and having intercourse” with the victim, at times sending lewd photographs to her cellphone. • Pennington and the teen engaged in a sex act while riding in a church van, with his then-wife also on board. • The defendant told the probation officer that after ending a sexual relationship with the girl, “he began an affair with a married woman” who also attended the church. Pennington joined the staff of Hartford City Wesleyan Church in 2010. He was dismissed from his part-time position as youth pastor in December 2012 after the police investigation of his dealings with the girl was under way. The church’s senior pastor later said Pennington had made a “regrettable choice” with “tragic consequences.” Judge Young gave Pennington a 15-year sentence with seven years suspended. Young also ruled the ex-pastor was a sexually violent predator, a finding that will require Pennington to register with local authorities as a sex offender for the rest of his life and place restrictions on how close he can live to schools, parks and other sites where children might gather. In his appeal, Pennington had asked the three-member panel to reduce his sentence, releasing him from prison and instead placing him on electronic home detention for six years. He noted in part that his criminal activity had not involved the use of weapons. Pennington is incarcerated at the New Castle Correctional Facility. According to state Department of Correction records, his projected release date is in September 2017. Contact news reporter Douglas Walker at (765) 213-5851. You can also follow him on Twitter (at)DouglasWalkerSP.
|
.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.