VIRGINIA
Northern Virginia Daily
By Joe Beck
LURAY — A former pastor in Luray and Shenandoah County has pleaded guilty to six counts in a child molestation case in Page County Circuit Court.
The plea agreement of James Richard Daley, 71, a pastor at the Lebanon Lutheran Church in Lebanon Church for several years in the 1980s, did not specify any sentencing recommendations but Daley could spend the rest of his life in prison. Page County Commonwealth’s Attorney Kenneth Alger II said the five felony counts of indecent liberties with a child and one felony count of aggravated sexual battery to a child less than 13 years old carry a prison term of up to 45 years.
Daley’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Aug. 25.
Alger said in an interview Wednesday that he consulted with the victims and their families about the plea agreement, and all of them supported it.
Daley was initially charged with 12 counts of aggravated sexual battery to a child less than 13. Alger said the investigation involved several victims but the grand jury indictments pertained to only one.
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