Brunswick Pastor Patrick Edouard Found Not Guilty on Sexual Abuse, Guilty on Sexual Exploitation
A jury in the Pastor Pastor Edouard case has announced a split verdict on last Friday.
Edouard was found not guilty of three counts of third-degree sexual abuse but the jury found him guilty of all four counts of sexual exploitation by a counselor, therapist, school employee or clergy. They also found him guilty of having a pattern, practice or scheme to sexually exploit.
News reports from KCCI:
Four women in Edouard's former congregation at Covenant Reform Church in Pella said he used his influence as a pastor and counselor to draw them into having sexual relations. Three of the women said the first sexual encounter with Edouard was rape.Pastor Patrick Edouard faces up to nine years in prison.
Assistant Iowa Attorney General Scott Brown said they were hoping for convictions on the sex abuse charges and believed they had the evidence to prove them.
“Ultimately, in the end, we’re just happy and very pleased with the outcome,” Brown said. “We knew the sexual abuse charges were a real uphill battle because of the nature of the relationships that our victims had with the defendant.”
“We’re very pleased with the verdict. We know it was a very difficult case, difficult for the victims, difficult for their families, difficult for the jury to hear the type of evidence they had to hear, and we’re very happy with the verdict that was entered,” Brown said.
