UPDATED::Local youth minister charged with sexual abuse of a juvenile | News | bdtonline.com

UPDATE:: Authorities investigate youth minister’s alleged sexual abuse

“The investigation at Christ Church has uncovered no evidence of misconduct on the part of Mr. Lilly toward our youth while he served at the parish. He has not worked at Christ Church since Sept. 15, 2015, the alleged abuse did not occur here, nor did the alleged abuse involve any parishioners at this church,” Slater said.
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Adams contacted the Rev. William Burk of the Church of the Creator Episcopal Church in Mechanicsville, Va. Burk said Lilly had attended the church, and was in the youth minister program. A female member of the church approximately 16 years old had come to him “to speak about feelings she had” for Lilly, according to the report. The female advised she had been pressured along with another girl in the church to send Lilly nude pictures of her genitalia, which she stated she had done. Burk said the female did not wish to participate in the case against Lilly.

A member of another church where Lilly had served as a youth minister, Noel York-Simmons with the All Saints Episcopal Church in Atlanta, Ga., said Lilly was “let go early.”

“York-Simmons advised (Lilly) was let go not because of the transgender issue, but rather because he had told numerous lies. York-Simmons advised (Lilly) had a severe problem telling the truth while working at the church,” Adams said in his report.

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A transgender Bluefield man involved in youth ministry at local Episcopal churches was arrested Tuesday and charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse of a juvenile.

James “Jimmy” Lilly, 24, was charged with one count of incest, one count of second-degree sexual assault and 31 counts of first-degree sexual abuse, Detective K.L. Adams, with the Bluefield Police Department, said.

Adams said the victim in the case is a juvenile female. He said the abuse began in 2009 when the victim was 9 to 10 years old, and continued until she was 16.

The alleged abuse in the case took place at a home, and not a church, Adams said.

Local youth minister charged with sexual abuse of a juvenile | News | bdtonline.com