|
| Sex Offender and Sex Crime News |
Teen, pastor in court on sex
crimes
2002-11-22
Daily Interlake
Teenager
Terry Eads, a church youth pastor, was sentenced to prison for
raping a 4-year-old boy; and another church pastor, Garry
Toavs, 58, pleaded guilty to molesting a girl, in separate
court hearings Thursday.
Eads, 18, hung his head through
the sentencing hearing before District Judge Stewart Stadler
as his 6-year-old victim's parents testified about the damage
Eads wreaked. Eads' family and the boy's family were friends
and church companions before the incident.
As a
victim, the boy and his parents' identity won't be released.
But their pain is evident.
"It's something that no one
should have to go through. It's something you can't describe,
it's just so horrendous," said the boy's father.
Eads
"raped my son with me in the house. He raped my son in our
church" probably 40 times, the tearful father said. "He should
go to prison for a minimum of 15 years."
The abuse
lasted for two years, from 2000-02 when Eads was 15-17 years
old and the boy was 4-6.
Eads "was old enough to know
right from wrong. ... For two years, this went on. He would
have kept this going on forever if he could have," the father
said.
Eads was arrested in June, when the boy revealed
the abuse, and has been in jail since then. He pleaded guilty
in July.
His attorney, Robert Allison, asked Stadler
to consider giving Eads a probationary sentence. He called as
a witness Andy Hudak, who treats sex offenders, and said that
Eads has a 90 percent likelihood of being successfully treated
and not repeating his offense.
Another suffering
father — Eads' — also testified, saying that he would be
willing to move his family, if necessary, to satisfy the court
that Eads would have no further contact with the victim or his
family.
"If I have to, I would," William Eads said.
"He's my son."
The crime of sexual intercourse without
consent carries a prison term of up to 100 years.
A
probation officer recommended 25 years in prison with 15
suspended. And Deputy County Attorney Ed Corrigan, apologizing
to the victim's family that he didn't think a longer sentence
is appropriate, asked Stadler to consider a term of 30 years
with 20 suspended.
Stadler agreed.
"The only
reason it's not 60 years ... is the fact that you did this
when you were 16 or 17 years old," Stadler said, though the
damage is no different than if Eads had been older.
"I
think this is a crime of violence, even though it wasn't
physical force," Stadler said.
"Other than homicide
(or causing a debilitating injury), I can't think of a crime I
would consider to be more serious," Stadler told Eads. "You
have taken something ... that can never be restored."
He pointed out that Eads' crime was not a single
event, but so many violations of the boy that it is "almost
staggering. ... It is important that you spend time in
prison."
Stadler attached several conditions to the
sentence. Eads may not ever live in the same county as the boy
and his family. He must undergo sex-offender treatment, and
pay a third of his prison wages to the victim's family for
counseling.
Earlier, Stadler accepted a guilty plea
from Garry Toavs, 58, of Kalispell, on a charge of sexual
assault.
Toavs, pastor of Evergreen Alliance Church,
was originally charged with sexual offenses with two girls,
ages 12 and 5. In exchange for his guilty plea, one of the
charges was dropped.
According to court documents, an
investigation was launched when one of the girls told her
mother that Toavs had touched her inappropriately.
When he was arrested, he was accused of molesting and
exposing himself to the girls between Jan. 1-17.
In
court Thursday, Toavs admitted guilt and told prosecuting
Deputy County Attorney Dan Guzynski that he committed the acts
for his own sexual gratification.
Represented by
attorney Patrick Sherlock, Toavs will be sentenced on Jan. 16.
He faces two to 100 years in prison.
...
View Full Article (3950 characters)
Previous
Article Next
Article
Directory of Articles
From Daily Interlake
News
Articles Recommend
This
Page | | |
If you find SexCriminals.com
to be useful, please consider supporting our efforts by making a donation
of any amount. Donations are used to cover our growing server, bandwidth
and administration costs. To donate click below. Thanks for your support!
|
