A jury took 58 minutes of deliberation Tuesday to find a Wichita Falls pastor guilty of six counts of indecency with a child.
Ronnie Allen Killingsworth, 79, was found guilty of sexually abusing three young girls, now adults, between 2000 and 2011.
The verdict jury was announced in the 30th District Courtroom before about 70 onlookers, including members of the Rephidim Church where Killingsworth is pastor. The trial was moved from the 78th District Courtroom to accommodate the the size of the crowd that included many members of the congregation.
In closing argument, defense attorney Chuck Smith told the jurors prosecutors “didn’t come close” to showing Killingsworth was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. He said the accusations came from a couple of families who wanted to blame the church “for all the misery in their lives.”
He said two of the alleged victims “conspired to make it all up.”
Prosecutor Bill Vasser asked jurors to consider how the victims would benefit from bringing forth false allegations. He said they had faced a courtroom filled with congregation members making faces at them and cameras taking their pictires.
“They get to be screwed up mentally for the rest of their lives,” he said.
Vasser and Davye Jo Estes are prosecutors in the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office who were brought in for the case to avoid a conflict of interest because Killingsworth’s son is a Wichita Falls police officer.
During testimony, Killingsworth testified in his own defense, denying the allegations during the trial that began a week ago.
The three victims took the stand to detail sexual abuse that they testified took place in the church office. They told the jury that Killingsworth touched them inappropriately.
Once the guilty verdicts were returned Tuesday, the court began the punishment phase of the trial. Two of Killingsworth’s victims testified about the impact the molestations have had on their lives.
“It feels like having to go through the abuse again,” one of the women said of the ordeal of the trial.
Killingsworth’s son, Allen, said his father turned 79 on Tuesday and had health problems.
“Any prison sentence you give him is a death sentence,” Allen Killingsworth said.
The pastor’s wife, Lynda, told the jurors, “you have sentenced an innocent man to prison.”
The jury will return Wednesday morning to deliberate Ronnie Kilingsworth’s punishment, which could be up to 20 years in prison on each of the counts
The jury consists of six men and six women after 78th District Judge Meredith Kennedy earlier brought in an alternate juror to replace one man on the panel.
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This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Wichita Falls pastor found guilty of sexually abusing young girls in church office
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