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	Pastor Gets 45-Year Term for Sex Assault GP: He Denied Girl's Claims, but Jury Swiftly Convicts Him By Robert Tharp The Dallas Morning News May 20, 2006 http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/southwest/ stories/DN-pastor_20met.ART0.West.Edition1.39d88d6.html A 26-year-old pastor of a Grand Prairie church was sentenced to 45 years in prison Friday after he was convicted of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl in his congregation. Jurors deliberated less than 30 minutes before convicting Jerry Castle of two charges of aggravated sexual assault. The girl testified that Mr. Castle had sex with her at least nine times while she spent time with him and his family during her spring break in March 2005. The investigation began after a police officer found Mr. Castle alone with the girl in a parked car after a Christian music concert at Six Flags Over Texas. Mr. Castle, pastor of Faith Tabernacle Church, a Pentecostal church, denied the charges during the trial despite DNA evidence that linked him to the girl's shirt and a taped conversation after his arrest in which he admitted to having sex with her. In closing arguments Friday, prosecutors Jason Hermus and Brandon Birmingham asked jurors to sentence Mr. Castle to life, saying he had destroyed the faith of the victim and her family and had lied to his supporters. Defense attorney Phillip Hayes said that Mr. Castle, a married father of two young children, was a good candidate for probation. In a statement after the sentencing, the victim, now 13, said she has trouble trusting people and has lost faith in organized religion. "You took my first kiss. You most of all took my virginity," she said. "You hurt me in a way that is unexplainable. You brainwashed me into thinking that what you did was OK. ... You're a pastor, and preachers don't do that to people. You preached against it, and you did it." By law, Mr. Castle must serve at least 22 ½ years in prison before he's eligible for parole. E-mail rtharp@dallasnews.com
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