No Jail for Church Leader in Boy Sex Case

(Springfield, Missouri) In May 2008, former church youth leader Angela Hurt, 33, pleaded guilty to statutory rape and statutory sodomy stemming from having a long-term sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy.

In compliance with the plea agreement, Hurt was sentenced this month to five years probation and ordered to register as a sex offender for life.

The victim's mother was clearly disappointed that Hurt received no jail.

The mother told the judge that, before the crime took place, her son was involved in football, and played guitar in the church youth group. She says, after it happened, the teen stopped being involved altogether.

Hurt was ordered to stay away from the boy as part of her probation.

Regarding the $10 million civil suit, the parties reached an out-of-court settlement and the lawsuit was dismissed. All signed a confidentiality agreement so details of the settlement are secret.


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Church Youth Leader and Boy, 15
[Previous 5/30/07 entry]
(Springfield, Missouri) A 32-year-old church youth leader, Angela Hurt, faces charges of rape and sodomy for allegedly engaging in sex with a 15-year-old boy.

According to court documents, the boy said that he and Hurt engaged in sexual intercourse about 20 times from January to March 2005, mostly at her Springfield home. Also, the boy's mother stated that she had found Angela Hurt hiding outside her son's bedroom window on occasion in the past. The boy admitted that he would sneak out the window at night to meet Hurt.

Angela Hurt is scheduled for trial in July.

Meanwhile, the boy's family has filed suit against Angela Hurt, the Cornerstone Church, Pastor Jess Gibson, church staff members and Hurt's husband, Robert Hurt. The suit claims that all the parties were aware of the illicit child sex and failed to notify authorities and didn't act to stop it.

Interestingly, not only did responsible parties apparently not act, the police only learned of the relationship after finding Hurt and the boy huffing and puffing in flagrante delicto at a local cemetery.

The boy and his family seek $10 million for suffering "permanent emotional distress, humiliation, mental anguish, post-traumatic stress disorder, lost wages, diminished earning capacity, and pain and suffering, as a result of Hurt's actions and the negligence of pastors and employees who failed to stop the sexual contact."

Heh.