Convicted S. Florida Pastor James Harris Convicted of Molestation on Teen Boy, Gets 30 Years
The 65-year-old South Florida minister Rev. James Harris has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for molesting a teenage boy. On Friday's sentencing hearing, prosecutors wanted the defendant to serve the maximum 80-year term for the Rev. James Harris, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported. Harris' attorney requested a 16-year minimum. Rev. Harris received 30 years in prison which will keep him in prison for the rest of his life. He's been charged and convicted on six felony sex crimes including:
- lewd or lascivious battery
- unlawful sexual activity with a minor
- lewd or lascivious conduct
- two counts of promoting sexual performance by a child
- and showing obscene material to a minor
The victim, a 15-year-old boy, charged that Harris lured him into sex when the minister was a community leader in Belle Glade. Belle Glade is an impoverished farming community in the Everglade where he grew up there, went to college and then returned as a minister.
The Sun Sentinel reported:
During the trial in August, the victim testified that Harris performed sex acts on him on two occasions, and took videos. The jury watched two videos: one showed the boy masturbating under Harris' direction as a porn movie played in the background; the other showed the boy having sex with his girlfriend, 14, who did not initially realize Harris was recording them.Source
"He was a reverend, a politician and a supporter of teenage boys having the dream to play professional football," Assistant State Attorney Chrichet B. Mixon wrote in a sentencing memorandum. "However, Harris' most suitable title is that of a master manipulator."
Mixon said Harris told his victim he had contacts that would be useful in his pursuit of a football career in the National Football League.
