Local youth minister charged with sexual abuse of a juvenile

WEST VIRGINIA
Bluefield Daily Telegraph

Posted: Wednesday, January 13, 2016

By SAMANTHA PERRY Bluefield Daily Telegraph

BLUEFIELD — A transgender Bluefield man involved in youth ministry at local Episcopal churches was arrested Tuesday and charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse of a juvenile.

James “Jimmy” Lilly, 24, was charged with one count of incest, one count of second-degree sexual assault and 31 counts of first-degree sexual abuse, Detective K.L. Adams, with the Bluefield Police Department, said.

Adams said the victim in the case is a juvenile female. He said the abuse began in 2009 when the victim was 9 to 10 years old, and continued until she was 16.

The alleged abuse in the case took place at a home, and not a church, Adams said.

“Mr. Lilly, by his own admission, is transgender,” Adams said. “He is in the process of becoming a woman.”

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