CANADA
Cape Breton Post
SYDNEY — A Supreme Court jury returned a verdict of guilty Friday on one of three counts of sexual interference against a Glace Bay pastor.
The panel of six men and six women spent nearly five hours deliberating before returning with the verdict shortly after 7 p.m.
Pastor Robert Stewart Lawther, 62, of Reserve Street, was charged with three counts of sexual interference involving three girls under the age of 16. The offences were alleged to have occurred between 2006 and 2011, when two of the complainants were between the ages of six and 11 — they are now 14 — while the third was between the ages of two and seven, and is now 10.
The jury found Lawther guilty on the count involving one of the 14-year-olds. She testified the man known in the community as Pastor Bob touched her on numerous occasions while in a swimming pool.
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