THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 11, 1996 TAG: 9610110491
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JUNE ARNEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 63 lines
Fred W. Hill, a former pastor at Unity Gospel Baptist Church in Great Bridge, was convicted Thursday of three misdemeanor counts of assault against girls who attended the church.
Circuit Judge Russell I. Townsend Jr. found Hill, 46, not guilty of a fourth charge of aggravated sexual battery, a felony, for allegedly fondling an 8-year-old girl in September 1995.
Townsend set a sentencing hearing for Dec. 16. Hill faces up to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine.
Hill originally was charged with four counts of aggravated sexual battery until the judge reduced three charges to misdemeanors. The more serious charge carried a possible punishment of up to 20 years in prison.
Hill declined to comment after the trial.
Victims and witnesses hugged in groups and wept outside the courthouse after Hill's conviction. Some were happy, others disappointed that Hill was not convicted of the more serious charge on all counts.
``I'm happy he's getting something out of it,'' said one victim, who claims Hill fondled her outside the church when she was 15 in August 1993. ``So maybe he'll learn not to do it again to anyone else.''
Prosecutor Larry Willis said he will ask the judge to give Hill some jail time when he is sentenced.
``I think he abused the position of trust he had to touch these girls for some kind of sexual gratification,'' Willis said.
Harold Gavaris, the attorney representing Hill, said he was disappointed.
``I was hoping to get an acquittal on all the charges,'' Gavaris said. ``I believe in my client.''
In three days of trial spread over two weeks, the girls testified about sexual liberties they said Hill took with them while at the church, which had about 30 members and has since dissolved.
Hill was associate pastor there. The offenses occurred between August 1989 and October 1995.
The victim who is now 18 and who spoke outside the courthouse testified that Hill grabbed her buttocks and rubbed ``his private parts'' against her as he hugged her in front of the church in August 1993.
A girl who is now 14 testified Friday that Hill fondled her breasts, buttocks and crotch near a church Sunday school room on Oct. 4, 1995.
Another girl, who was 13 at the time, testified that Hill reached his fingers under her dress and rubbed her breasts as he hugged her on two occasions in August 1989. The girl also said she was not sure that the touching was not accidental.
Testifying in his defense on Tuesday, Hill denied touching any of the girls inappropriately.
``I've never intentionally touched them with any intentions of doing them any harm,'' he testified. ``I don't remember accidentally touching them.''
At one point, he offered an explanation for why the girls might have told such stories. ``The only reason I can think of is to get attention they don't get at home,'' he said.
Last Friday, Hill was found not guilty of a charge of taking indecent liberties with a 12-year-old girl on Aug. 13, 1991. Hill could have received up to five years in prison if convicted of that felony.
In June, Hill was acquitted on an unrelated charge of taking indecent liberties in Camden, N.C. The alleged victim in that case is among the girls who claimed to be victims of Hill in the Chesapeake cases.
KEYWORDS: CHILD MOLESTATION SEXUAL ASSAULT SEX CRIME PASTOR
by CNB