WEST VIRGINIA
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
By SAMANTHA PERRY Bluefield Daily Telegraph
PRINCETON — As rows of victims and their family members watched in stoic silence, a former church volunteer quietly uttered the words “guilty” when asked how he was pleading to a myriad of child sexual abuse charges before him.
Timothy Probert, 57, of Princeton, pleaded guilty Monday morning to 37 charges related to the sexual abuse of teen boys while he served as an elder and youth volunteer at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Bluefield and as a mentor for the Working to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect (WE CAN) program.
Probert entered the plea before retired Fayette County Judge Charles Vickers, who was assigned to the case in 2015 after Mercer County Circuit Court judges Omar Aboulhosn, Derek Swope and William “Bill” Sadler recused themselves citing conflicts of interest.
Probert pleaded guilty to seven counts of first-degree sexual abuse, three counts of third-degree sexual assault, one count of second-degree sexual assault, one count of first-degree sexual assault, 24 counts of sexual abuse by a parent, guardian or custodian, and one count of delivery of a controlled substance.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.