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Youth worker accused of molestation:
16 felony counts: Police say church's ex-staffer spent
numerous nights: alone with 12-year-old boy.
BYLINE: Joshua B. Good STAFF WRITER
DATE:
12-10-1997
PUBLICATION: The Atlanta Journal and
Constitution
EDITION:
SECTION:
Newspapers_&_Newswires
PAGE: J01
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A 28-year-old church
youth group worker who spent nights alone with a 12-year-old boy
persuaded the youngster to have oral sex by showing him pornographic
pictures and reading what he said was Scripture stored in his
computer, police said Tuesday.
Adam Lee Gilliam of Sugar
Hill was arrested Monday night and charged with 16 felony counts of
child molestation and aggravated child molestation, police said. The
arrest is the second Gwinnett case in two weeks where police claim a
church youth group leader molested a child.
Gilliam met the boy at Calvary Chapel North in Cumming, said
Gwinnett police Sgt. Jeff Sligar.
Detectives do not believe
any of the sexual assaults occurred in the church or on
church-sponsored events. No other children who know Gilliam have
come forward alleging sexual abuse, Sligar said.
Drew
Grubbs, executive  pastor at the 250-member
church, said Gilliam was terminated in October from his part-time
job at the church as communications director. Police said Gilliam
also worked with youth groups at the church.
Gilliam
allegedly took the boy along with him when Gilliam played in a
softball league, according to court records. The boy obtained
permission from his parents to go with Gilliam, Sligar said.
After the games, according to police, Gilliam brought the
boy home with him. The child told police that during the sleepovers
Gilliam crawled into bed with him and molested him, Sligar said. The molestation
happened approximately 10 times, the boy told police. He spent the
night with Gilliam on numerous occasions from September until
December, police said.
The boy told police that "Gilliam
also read Scripture off of the computer that said it was all right
for them to be doing these acts," a search warrant affidavit reads.
Officials said they did not know what biblical passages
Gilliam could have been quoting.
Detectives searched
Gilliam's home on Sugar Crossing Drive Monday night and confiscated
his computer. They planned to search through the hard drive for
pornographic pictures and text files.
Grubbs said
prospective employees at the church will have to undergo a
background check before being hired.
In the other case,
Mount Hermas Church of God youth group activities director Marcus
Bellew and his wife Janice Bellew, both 21, allegedly seduced a
14-year-old girl from their church and had group sex with her,
police said.
Marcus Bellew's friend, Matthew Bennett, 22, is
accused of joining the group sex with the girl during an overnight
stay at a hotel in Suwanee.
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