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Youth pastor's bail denied in sex case

Church members back the man accused of molesting a young relative years ago.

By COLLEEN JENKINS Times Staff Writer
Published October 11, 2007

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TAMPA - Church youth pastor Justin Ray Peterson picked up his office phone and heard the voice of an adult female relative who accused him of molesting her as a child.

"Are you even sorry for what you did?" she wanted to know.

Peterson, 31, replied, "Words cannot even describe how sorry I am."

Authorities used those words, caught on a recorded phone call earlier this month, to arrest Peterson at River of Life Church in Lutz on two counts of capital sexual battery.

Circuit Judge Walter Heinrich didn't even hear the entire conversation Wednesday before denying Peterson bail.

"It's pretty obvious that he acknowledged what took place," the judge said.

Peterson, who lives in Wesley Chapel with his wife and two children, resigned from his youth pastor role - but not the church staff - after family members confronted him about the relative's claims.

Members of River of Life, a busy, nondenominational church off Nebraska Avenue, came out in full force to support Peterson at the hearing.

"We stand by him 100 percent," said senior pastor Dan Coflin, who is also Peterson's father-in-law. "He's a man of God. He's a man of integrity and uprightness."

Hillsborough sheriff's Detective Travis Valles said the batteries occurred between 1993 and 1995, when the girl was age 7 to 9. Peterson, age 18 to 20, was her babysitter.

Defense attorney Joe Bodiford said his client stopped babysitting the girl at 17.

The relative accuses him of making her perform oral sex on him and placing his hands down her pants. On the tape, she also mentions another victim, an allegation prosecutors are investigating.

Peterson blamed his actions on a pornography addiction, saying he manipulated the victim to get his sexual fulfillment, according to Valles.

"There's nothing that I can do that will take away the hurt," he said. "It was a very screwed up time in my life. I'm genuinely sorry. I've never hated myself for anything in my life as much as I hate myself for that."

Bodiford said his client is contrite about the past, having made a "miraculous" turnaround in his life. He has no prior arrest history and, said Bodiford, no one from the church community has come forward with similar allegations.

"He's gone out to change all the things that were plaguing him before," Bodiford said.

Colleen Jenkins can be reached at cjenkins@sptimes.com or 813 226-3337.

[Last modified October 11, 2007, 06:51:34]