Ex-pastor allegedly tries to commit suicide in court after guilty verdict
A former pastor allegedly tried to commit sucicde in a Florida courtroom after a judge told him he would be going straight to jail for sex crimes against juveniles.
A former pastor allegedly tried to commit sucicde in a Florida courtroom after a judge told him he would be going to jail for sex crimes against juveniles.
Rev. James Richard Harris was  found guilty of performing two sex acts on a 15-year-old boy.
Prosecutors say he abused  his connection to the Glades Central High School program to lure his victim with promises of introductions to football scouts and trainers.
Harris also videotaped the teen engaging in other lewd acts as a pornographic movie played in the background according to the Palm Beach Post.
The former pastor was also found  guilty of videotaping an unsuspecting 14-year-old girl and her 16-year-old boyfriend, described as his godson, having sex in his home.
The verdict was read in court on Thursday and when the judge told  Harris he would remain in jail until sentencing in October, he grabbed a handful of white pills and tried to swallow them.
Court deputies rushed toward him and yelled “Spit it out! Spit it out!,” according to the Palm Beach Post.
“I think its a cowardly thing to do, and it shows that he knows what he did and that he’s facing a long time in prsion,” Prosecuotr Mixon told the Post.
The former pastor faces up to 80 years in prison on convictions of lewd and lascivious battery, lewd and lasvicious conduct, sexual activity with a minor, showing obsence material to a minor, and two counts of promoting sexual performance by a minor.
