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	Shifflett Charges Split up By Liz Mitchell Star Exponent [Culpeper VA] October 17, 2006 http://www.starexponent.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=CSE/MGArticle/CSE_MGArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149191195702 In Circuit Court Monday, Judge John R. Cullen separated the seven charges facing Charles Shifflett into four trials. Shifflett, 55, is pastor of First Baptist Church of Culpeper. He pleaded not guilty last month to charges of physical and sexual abuse against children that allegedly occurred nearly 20 years ago at his former Culpeper church - Cavalry Baptist - and its adjacent K-12 private school. The first trial is scheduled for Jan. 17. Two other trials will follow in January and the final trial is scheduled for Feb. 28. During court proceedings, the commonwealth moved to combine six of the charges into one case and try the final charge separately. Shifflett's defense attorneys said their client should not be subjected to a "shotgun approach" of allegations as broad as racial complaints to excessive whipping and sexual offenses that were originally brought as separate indictments. Ultimately, Cullen ruled to combine some, but not all, of the charges. In his argument for combining the cases, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Tom Smith said in six of the instances Shifflett was acting in a leadership capacity on the school's campus trying to control students' behavior. The seventh charge, Smith said, is "purely sexual in nature and not connected." Defense attorneys Charlie Bowman and Samuel Higginbotham II, of Orange, said the cases should not be joined and the length of time between incidents was an issue. The seven incidents are alleged to have occurred between 1988 and 1999. "These are all very, very different charges," Bowman said. Smith countered saying that justice required the trials to be combined. "He's acting in the same capacity with students under his leadership in the same place with the same motive," Smith said stating the motive was to use manipulative tactics to control children. "For justice to be done the jury is entitled to determine what his motive is," Smith said. Cullen determined that three of the cases relating to work that was done on the school's property were similar in nature and could be combined. These include two charges involving a "tree game," in which Shifflett allegedly took boys out of school to split wood and told them to stand as close to the trees as possible while they were falling. Smith said Shifflett would belittle those who would run away by calling the children names. The third charge involved Robert Hammonds, whom Smith said was also conducting outside work on the school's property but was not walking up a hill fast enough so the defendant allegedly shot at him and called him a racial slur. Cullen also combined two charges, which are essentially the same sexual act against alleged victim Chad Robison. The final two charges, Cullen ruled, would be tried separately. Originally the trials were going to begin in November. Due to the complicated nature of the case and a personal request by Higginbotham, Cullen scheduled the trials to start next year. Liz Mitchell can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 110 or emitchel@starexponent.com. Breakdown of Charles Shifflett's trials Charles Shifflett, pastor of First Baptist Church of Culpeper faces seven charges involving physical and sexual abuse against children for incidents that occurred at his former church and its private school. Some of the charges were combined in Circuit Court Monday. Below is a trial schedule: First trial: Jan. 17 at 9:30 a.m. What: Shifflett faces three charges of cruelty and injury against Chad Robison, Woody Leake and Robert Hammonds that are said to have occurred while the children were splitting wood or working on school grounds. Two of the charges involve a "tree game," where children were allegedly called names for running away from a falling tree. The third charge involves Hammonds, one of the only black students at Cavalry Baptist Academy, who was allegedly shot at and called a racial slur for not walking up a hill fast enough. Reason: Judge John Cullen combined these cases because they all involved work on the church's school property. Second trial: Jan. 24 at 9:30 a.m. What: Shifflett faces a charge of indecent liberties with a child and cruelty and injury to a child. Both allegedly involved sexual acts against Robison when he was a student at the school in the early '90s. Reason: Cullen combined these cases because they involved the same alleged victim at the same time and place. Third trial: Jan. 30 at 9:30 a.m. What: Shifflett faces one charge of cruelty and injury to Jason Rudd. The commonwealth says he was repeatedly beaten with a 2-by-4 in front of his class in 1999. Reason: Cullen did not combine this with any other cases because seven years had passed between this and the alleged "tree game" incidents. Fourth trial: Feb. 28 at 9:30 a.m. What: Shifflett faces a charge of indecent liberties against Liz Bailey. She was a student at the church's school in 1988 and says Shifflett rubbed his privates against her arm with lascivious intent. Reason: The commonwealth did not request to combine this case with any others.
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