A former youth group leader at a West Paducah church was in a Ballard County Courtroom Friday, where was sentenced for 3rd-degree rape involving a minor.
A county official who was in the courtroom confirmed that Michael Parsons took a plea deal, and received three years in prison. A charge of prohibited use of electronics to procure a minor to engage in sex was dropped as part of the deal.
Parsons was youth leader at Milburn Chapel Cumberland Presbyterian Church in March when he was arrested following an investigation by the McCracken County Sheriff's Department, after a complaint filed by the parents of the female victim. She was 16-17 years old when the alleged crimes occurred over a period of several months, including at least once on Parson's property in Ballard County.
In McCracken County, Parsons faces seven counts of 3rd-degree rape, two counts of 3rd degree sodomy, one count of use of an electronic device to procure a minor to engage in sex, three counts of distribution of obscene matter to a minor, and ten counts of possession of matter portraying sexual performance by a minor.
His trial in McCracken County is scheduled for March 2016.
