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UPDATE: Pastor Found Guilty of Sexual Abuse
Posted Friday, February 27, 2009 ; 03:45 PM | View Comments | Post Comment
Updated Friday, February 27, 2009 ; 11:20 PM


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WEB EXTRA: Victim Speaks Out
That verdict brought tears to victims and their families in the courtroom who had doubts about the outcome. WEB EXTRA: Watch Interview with Victim.

CHARLESTON -- Guilty on all charges -- that's the jury verdict against a former Kanawha County pastor. The jury took three hours this afternoon to find Sandy Cook guilty of multiple counts of sexual assault and sexual abuse involving teenage boys that attended his church.

Kanawha County Circuit COurt Judge Irene Berger read the verdict. "We the jury find the defendant Sandy Martin Cook guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of sexual assault in the third degree"

That verdict brought tears to victims and their families in the courtroom who had doubts about the outcome.

"That it would be a hung jury was my biggest fear, but it came back and they were all guilty. It was quite relieving to know that someone else realized the pain I've been through," says Jose Strickland, a victim of Pastor Cook.

He was the first of three victims to testify during the trial, giving graphic testimony of the sexual abuse and assault. Those incidents happened in the early 1990's. Strickland says he took a long time to finally speak up about it.

"This was not something I wanted to admit to myself let alone anyone else. I solely came forward and decided this was enough. I couldn't live this way with three kids and have this bottled up inside," says Stickland.

"Everybody paints this picture that everything is fine with these guys. They are not going through what we are going through at home. In the middle of the night my husband would wake up with nightmares, sitting and crying to me like a little baby," says Misty Strickland, Jose's wife.

Over time the Strickland's hope their lives can return to normal. Meanwhile, the judge revoked Cook's bond and he was immediately taken into custody. A sentencing date has not been set.

Copyright 2009 West Virginia Media. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
User Comments [ post comment ]
User Comment
Anon
2/28/09 at 5:17 AM
Report Abuse
We are so glad justice is done; our hearts are with these families as they continue forward in their lives. Children are precious and should be protected. I'm glad this pastor was convicted.

There is an excellent children's book to help children who it is either known, or suspected, are being sexually abused. It is a faith-based book and they included the faith element because it is the child's real story, fictionally told, and he relied on faith to help him, and also because many children are threatened and silenced by abusers using faith as a weapon. The book is easy to read, small and discreet in size, and something children will be attracted to and will want to read. The first in a series of four. The second, David's Shield, is about to begin publishing and has been endorsed by the Chaplain of the New England Patriots and Award-Winning Singer/Songwriter Natalie Grant among others. It has already been added to Resource Lists in many places and is a safe and tasteful tool to help children share. The title of the book is David's Sword by David, Lee and Marybeth Elliott. It can be purchased or ordered at any bookstore in the U.S. or you may visit David's Sword Dot Com for an autographed copy.
User Comment
Judy Jones
2/27/09 at 5:50 PM
Report Abuse
We " Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests" applaud these brave young men for coming forward and reporting their abuse to law enforcement. By there courage and determination, they most likely have protected another child from being groomed, manipulated, used, and abused. The secrets and silence of clergy abuse has got to stop. They use their power to molest the vulnerable. Thank you, to these survivors. Judy Jones, SNAP director southeastern Ohio snapsteubenville@gmail.com http://www.snapnetwork.org/
User Comment
JOhn Davis
2/27/09 at 5:31 PM
Report Abuse
Wow, thats pretty sad. If you cant trust a pastor, who can ya trust?

RT www.be-anonymous.us.tc

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