Pastor Loses Appeal in Sex Case

By Joe Pinchot
Sharon Herald
December 11, 2014

http://www.sharonherald.com/news/local_news/pastor-loses-appeal-in-sex-case/article_6812753c-e929-5fcd-ab4b-17ff54dfe9a3.html

A former local pastor imprisoned for sexually molesting a boy has lost an appeal.

However, state Superior Court said some of Lee A. Moore's issues could be brought up in further action challenging the performance of his trial lawyer.

Moore, 49, was pastor of a Mercer church when he molested the boy between 2004 and 2008, starting when he was 15, according to trial testimony.

Moore maintained he was not guilty, but a jury found him guilty of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, unlawful contact with a minor, statutory sexual assault, corruption of a minor and indecent assault.

Mercer County Common Pleas Court Judge Thomas R. Dobson sentenced Moore in November 2013 to 9 to 25 years in prison.

In his direct appeal, Moore argued the two-year statute of limitations had expired for the charge for unlawful contact. He was charged in 2012, about three years after the alleged abuse ceased. He claimed he did not raise the issue sooner because of how the bill of information – the charging document in common pleas court – was worded, but a three-judge panel of Superior Court said the bill included the relevant years.

Case law has established that the statute of limitations is a defense that must be raised prior to sentencing, the court said. A defendant who does not properly raise the issue waives it, as Moore has, the court said in an opinion published Monday.

The court added that Moore "should" file a Post Conviction Relief Act petition arguing his trial attorney was ineffective for failing to raise the issue at the appropriate time.

Moore also challenged the convictions of indecent assault and corruption of a minor because prosecutors relied on the current laws establishing the crimes, which went into effect after his alleged abuse of the boy ended.