Two employees of a Tulsa megachurch accused of waiting for two weeks before reporting the rape of a 13-year-old girl on ministry property last summer pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge.
On Friday, Victory Christian Center's John and Charica Daugherty pleaded no contest to failing to report child abuse. The Daughertys are the son and daughter-in-law of the south Tulsa church's senior pastor, Sharon Daugherty.
The judge told them if he could have done what he wanted, he would have thrown them behind bars because of their leadership position in the church, but he was constrained by evidence.
They each received a deferred sentence for 5 years, they were given the option of spending one month in jail but opted for the deferred sentence. They also have to pay a $500 fine and pay court costs.
They are also on probation and have to create a report of how they will handle things in the future and will have take that report to other churches and talk to them about how they should respond to incidents like this.
Three of the Daughertys' co-workers pleaded no contest on Monday to the same charges. Paul Willemstein and Anna George were sentenced to 30 days in jail. Harold "Frank" Sullivan was given a one year suspended sentence with no jail time.
Victory Christian Center released the following statement about the hearing:
"We respect the judge’s decision and sincerely hope that today will serve as another part of the ongoing healing process."
