Post by KC on Jul 12, 2006 22:14:36 GMT -5
July 12, 2006 - JACKSONVILLE — A former Morehead City police officer and Jacksonville youth pastor pleaded guilty Tuesday in Onslow County Superior Court to four counts of indecent liberties with a child.
David Boothe, 26, received a suspended sentence of 64 to 80 months. He must serve six months in the N.C. Department of Corrections and then he will be placed on probation for 36 months. He must do 72 hours of community service, pay court costs and fines and register as a sex offender.
Superior Court Judge Jack Jenkins also ordered Boothe, who is from West Virginia and has requested that his probation be served there, not to have any contact with the victim or her family. The girl is now 17 years old.
When Boothe was arrested by Jacksonville police in August 2005, he was originally charged with four counts of statutory rape, four counts of statutory sexual offense, four counts of indecent liberties with a child and four counts of crime against nature. The victim was 15 at the time of the offenses.
Boothe, who had worked as a Morehead City police patrol officer for two months, resigned after his arrest. He was fired from Good News Ministries in October 2004.
Assistant District Attorney Mike Maultsby told the judge that Boothe met the victim’s family shortly after he moved to Jacksonville in August 2002 and became the youth minister at Good News Ministries on Doris Avenue.
The victim’s family treated Boothe as a son, and over a two-year period, they all became close to him. In August 2004, Boothe asked the victim’s mother if it would be OK for him to check the teen out of school during lunch because she was depressed and he wanted to talk with her, Maultsby said.
Boothe checked the girl out of school but instead of taking her to lunch, he drove to his home in Cardinal Village claiming that he forgot his wallet. He ended up having sex with her in his bedroom, Maultsby said.
Boothe had sex with the girl on three other occasions. She told Boothe in January 2005 that “they had to stop this,” Maultsby said. “She knew the defendant was married and didn’t feel right about it. He told her that he loved her and didn’t want to stop.”
Boothe started taking basic law enforcement training in February 2005.
“He actually called (the victim) and read to her what the punishment of statutory rape and sex offense was and asked her not to say anything,” Maultsby said.
When the girl went to the prom with a boy in April 2005, Boothe called her on her cell phone. He screamed at her “in a jealous rage,” Maultsby said. In August 2005, the girl told her father about Boothe. Both of her parents went to the Jacksonville police.
In an emotional plea to the judge, the victim’s mother said her family trusted Boothe.
“We stood up for him when he was fired,” she said. “We admired him, and we trusted our daughter with him. … He knew she was a virgin. He knew she’d been taught to save herself for marriage.”
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David Boothe, 26, received a suspended sentence of 64 to 80 months. He must serve six months in the N.C. Department of Corrections and then he will be placed on probation for 36 months. He must do 72 hours of community service, pay court costs and fines and register as a sex offender.
Superior Court Judge Jack Jenkins also ordered Boothe, who is from West Virginia and has requested that his probation be served there, not to have any contact with the victim or her family. The girl is now 17 years old.
When Boothe was arrested by Jacksonville police in August 2005, he was originally charged with four counts of statutory rape, four counts of statutory sexual offense, four counts of indecent liberties with a child and four counts of crime against nature. The victim was 15 at the time of the offenses.
Boothe, who had worked as a Morehead City police patrol officer for two months, resigned after his arrest. He was fired from Good News Ministries in October 2004.
Assistant District Attorney Mike Maultsby told the judge that Boothe met the victim’s family shortly after he moved to Jacksonville in August 2002 and became the youth minister at Good News Ministries on Doris Avenue.
The victim’s family treated Boothe as a son, and over a two-year period, they all became close to him. In August 2004, Boothe asked the victim’s mother if it would be OK for him to check the teen out of school during lunch because she was depressed and he wanted to talk with her, Maultsby said.
Boothe checked the girl out of school but instead of taking her to lunch, he drove to his home in Cardinal Village claiming that he forgot his wallet. He ended up having sex with her in his bedroom, Maultsby said.
Boothe had sex with the girl on three other occasions. She told Boothe in January 2005 that “they had to stop this,” Maultsby said. “She knew the defendant was married and didn’t feel right about it. He told her that he loved her and didn’t want to stop.”
Boothe started taking basic law enforcement training in February 2005.
“He actually called (the victim) and read to her what the punishment of statutory rape and sex offense was and asked her not to say anything,” Maultsby said.
When the girl went to the prom with a boy in April 2005, Boothe called her on her cell phone. He screamed at her “in a jealous rage,” Maultsby said. In August 2005, the girl told her father about Boothe. Both of her parents went to the Jacksonville police.
In an emotional plea to the judge, the victim’s mother said her family trusted Boothe.
“We stood up for him when he was fired,” she said. “We admired him, and we trusted our daughter with him. … He knew she was a virgin. He knew she’d been taught to save herself for marriage.”
www.newbernsj.com/SiteProcessor.cfm?Template=/GlobalTemplates/Details.cfm&StoryID=28778&Section=Local