Former pastor pleads guilty to statutory rape

By Christina Haley
Port City Daily
November 17, 2014

http://portcitydaily.com/2014/11/17/former-pastor-pleads-guilty-to-statutory-rape/

A Gastonia man pleaded guilty to statutory rape in Brunswick County Superior Court on Monday.

Joseph Robert Hall, 62, pleaded guilty to one count of statutory rape of a minor he was at least six years older than before Superior Court Judge Gail Adams. Adams sentenced Hall to 12 to 15 years in the N.C. Department of Corrections.

All other charges in the case were dismissed as part of Hall’s plea agreement, according to Assistant District Attorney Chris Thomas.

Hall was arrested in May, charged with five counts of statutory rape of a minor with the defendant more than six years older than the victim, five counts of statutory sex offense, four counts of indecent liberties with a child, first-degree rape of a child and first-degree sexual offense of a child, according to Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office Spokeswoman Emily Flax.

According to Thomas, Hall previously served as an associate pastor at a Brunswick County church. When the victim was 12 years old, Hall began to have a sexual relationship with her that continued until the victim was 16, when Hall moved to Gastonia. Almost 20 years later, the victim—now 32 years old—approached law enforcement about the abuse, Thomas said.

Related story: Former Brunswick County man arrested on sex crimes

“At the time of the offense the defendant was…40 to 44 [years old] and the victim was under the age of 16,” Thomas said.

The incidents reportedly took place in Brunswick County between 1994 and 1998, according to Flax. Hall was serving as a men’s ministry leader at Restoring Hope Foursquare Church in Dallas at the time of arrest in May.

“The victim in this case…I’ll tell you it’s been a difficult thing for her,” Thomas said. “It’s something that she’s had to bear for quite some time.

“And I’d just like to note that Mr. Hall’s position in the church was a position of trust. And he abused that. And it’s going to leave scars well beyond this prison sentence.”

Hall will be required to register as a sex offender for 30 years after his release from prison, Adams ordered.