Posted on 06/26/2004 1:55:24 PM PDT by wagglebee
WEST PALM BEACH -- A Delray Beach pastor who faced a life term in prison for sexually abusing a preteen girl will not serve a day in prison for his actions.
Edouane Jean, 50, quietly acknowledged in court Thursday that he started molesting a girl when she was 9 years old and continued for about six years.
For that, Jean will be placed on five years of sex-offender probation and can cut short that term by two years if he follows the conditions of his probation.
His attorney said Jean has not ruled out a return to the ministry.
The plea bargain left the victim in the case infuriated, calling the probation a slap on the wrist for someone who caused so much harm.
"This is why victims in cases like this don't come forward," the woman said. "It's hell."
Jean was a well-respected pastor at Emmanuel Lutheran Church for years, and dozens of supporters showed up for his initial court appearances after he was arrested in June 2003.
A Lutheran Church investigation into his actions eventually led to Jean being charged with more than 200 counts of sexual abuse, many of them carrying life terms in prison if resulting in a conviction.
He was released on bond the next month, and prosecutors reduced the charges to four.
Assistant State Attorney Lanna Belohlavek said the plea deal was offered because it would have been hard to convict Jean at trial.
There was no physical evidence in the case, she said. Add to that the fact of putting the victim through an emotionally draining trial, and Belohlavek said they were forced to offer the deal.
"It's a resolution that we're not totally happy with, but we're satisfied it will protect the child and other children," Belohlavek said.
But outside the courtroom, the victim said prosecutors were too preoccupied with the emotional toll it would put on her.
"I wanted to testify," she said. "They manipulated my decision."
Jean must now abide by a strict set of guidelines that includes counseling and restricts him from having unsupervised time with any children.
And while none of his supporters was on hand Thursday, his attorney, Franklin Prince, said Jean hopes to serve others again.
"If people still value his counsel, he can counsel them," Prince said. "I think there's people who believe in him."
You think I am wrong?
2.........b. Infiltrators must act so as to discredit the church
............(1) Cause financial and sexual scandals
............(2) See that this is given a high profile in the news
............(3) Like-minded infiltrators in the media will cooperate
When FReepers are in control, this will never be an issue.
>>The minister got an all-expenses paid trip to jail and (IIRC) was killed by a fellow inmate in less than a year.<<
Why does someone this evil have to receive their just sentence from other inmates? Do the criminals know more about just sentencing than our court system?
In my book, three short pieces of rope and and a solid tree branch would be the solution. One for the sick pastor, one for the DA and one for judge who accepted the sick idea of probation for a man who molested a girl when she was 9 years old and continued for about six years.
He deserves a fair trial and a fast hanging.
Haitians seem to be an important voting bloc in South Florida, and it appears to be the prime mission of the "justice system" there to do nothing that might interfere with a Dem voter.
Granted, some people might think that the congregation would want to see this man put away - but many ethnic and national groups put the sheltering of their own members above anything else. This is particularly true if they are part of a corrupt political structure that needs them as an ethnic voting bloc.
BTTT
I agree with that esp. if that's what it comes to. I do think pedophiles should be removed permanently from society for a number of reasons. One of which the social disorder created when they abuse children who grow up with hangups,etc.
I agree.
***
The "girl told them that from the time she was 6 until she was 15, Jean would force sexual acts on her -- short of intercourse -- almost daily."
***
I know there are so many who just love south Florida, but, imo as a Christian parent...this ain't no place to raise kids. Many of our churches here are famous for one sort of scandal or another.
The Catholic Diocese of Palm Beach has seen several of its Bishops pack up and leave over the past 5-6 years due to allegations of sexual abuse by the clergy. Bishop Keith Symons, resigned in 1998 after admitting that as a priest he had sexually abused several altar boys. Bishop Anthony J. O'Connell resigned in March 2002 following charges he had sexually abused a minor.
Enter Bishop Sean P. O'Malley, who came from the Fall River, Mass., diocese, which was then facing lawsuits claiming that John Porter, a priest who has since been defrocked, committed sexual abuse of dozens of minors. Bishop O'Malley had been appointed to that Diocese to help repair its people and help restore faith in the Church. Now it would be Palm Beach's turn at his leadership, albeit, for a limited time. In a little over a year's time, the Pope called on Bishop O'Malley to pull out his snow boots, and head back up north to assist with the Diocese formerly under Cardinal Bernard Law, as the new Archbishop of Boston.
Just a few miles from the Diocese of Palm Beach offices, is the Presbyterian Church where Noodles the Clown entertained young children.
David Deyo, 43, of Jupiter, FL, had pleaded guilty to child pornography charges in October 2003. Deyo, once known as "Noodles the Clown," was a former volunteer at First Presbyterian Church in North Palm Beach. At least twice he befriended a single mother, gained her confidence and then molested her daughter.
Deyo also downloaded more than 100 pornographic pictures of underage girls.
District Judge Daniel T.K. Hurled called Deyo the most dangerous kind of pedophile because of the "surrogate father" role he took with the vulnerable girls, who were 8 and 10 years old at the time of the incidents. "That combination ... makes him enormously dangerous," Hurled said.
The judge also sentenced Deyo to three years probation, The Palm Beach Post reported.
I didn't name myself getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL for nothing.
If you're a Christian minister and you have time for molestation, you're not doing your job...oh, sorry, that's not what they meant...carry on....
Every case of pedophilia doesn't prove the case vis a vis Gramsci. I just don't want his views to be marginalized ala Nostradamus.
Post Clinton, I guess "It's just about sex." What we need is for the parents to take the country back. If need be, with guns blazing.
Indeed. Which is why we're outta here in T-25 and counting.
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