As I predicted yesterday he was found guilty and received five life sentences, stacked.
He won't get out on parole in any forseeable circumstances.
Good job Steve!
Anderson guilty; gets 5 life sentences
- A Comal County jury found former youth pastor Matthew Anderson guilty of sexual assault Thursday, sentencing him to life in prison for abusing a 16-year-old boy.
Anderson, 31, was accused of using passages of scripture to victimize a devout young Christian and coerce him into performing numerous sexual acts in late 2005 and early 2006.
After two days of highly religious and at times graphic testimony, the 12-member jury deliberated for an hour before convicting Anderson of five separate counts of sexual assault of a child and an additional two counts of indecency with a child by contact.
“A predator was put where he belongs,” Comal County Assistant District Attorney Steve De Lemos said. “It sends a message that this community will not tolerate this type of despicable behavior.”
Anderson — who had a previous sexual assault conviction from 2003 when he served as a youth pastor in Alabama — was sentenced to serve five consecutive life sentences, as well an additional 40 years for the two counts of indecency. He was also ordered to pay $20,000 in fines.
“We truly live in a fallen world,” presiding 433rd District Judge Dib Waldrip told the court following the verdict. He then quoted scripture to chastise the defendant and offer comfort to the families affected before ordering that all of Anderson’s sentences be served consecutively.
“He’ll never see the light of day,” De Lemos said.
The victim and his family had testified Tuesday that they met Anderson in June 2005 while worshipping at the Tree of Life Church. He became close friends with the family over the next several months, attending Bible readings and having dinners together, before the victim and Anderson eventually began spending most of their time together.
The victim testified that by October, Anderson starting having “visions from God,” which along with select Bible passages, he would later use to justify the multiple sexual encounters between the two in December and January.
It was not until a mission trip in 2007 that the victim came forth and accused Anderson of assault.
He was subsequently arrested in October 2007.
Anderson, a native of Luling, previously had been convicted of sexual assault while employed as a youth pastor in a suburb of Huntsville, Ala. Family members and the pastor of his former church in Alabama flew to New Braunfels to testify against Anderson.
Similar to the New Braunfels case, family members said they had befriended Anderson and invited him into their home before he began spending an “inordinate” amount of time with their son and preaching “strange” Bible doctrines. The Alabama victim’s father and church pastor said they eventually had to confront Anderson, and that he admitted to touching the victim inappropriately.
“What this case shows is that you can have very good people who unwittingly let a wolf into their midst,” De Lemos said. “It’s a message to all of us that this can happen anywhere.”
Anderson was brought up on charges and convicted of second degree sexual assault, a Class A misdemeanor in Alabama. He then moved to Comal County and registered as a sex offender with the state of Texas in August 2003.
Since sexual abuse was a lesser charge in Alabama and Anderson had successfully served his probation, his defense counsel Thursday attempted to have the Alabama conviction not considered as part of his punishment. Waldrip ruled that the Alabama’s statute was “substantially similar” to Texas’ felony indecency with a child charge, and the jury was allowed to include that conviction when considering his punishment — which ultimately was the maximum amount of jail time possible.
Anderson took the stand Thursday only after being found guilty, attempting to lobby for leniency from the jury during sentencing, something he did not get.
Defense Attorney Joseph Garcia III said he was disappointed with the outcome, after trying to convince the jury in closing arguments that there was no physical evidence, and that the prosecution’s case was based entirely on the word of a sexually and religiously confused teenager.
“It’s always difficult in cases when you all have someone testifying that’s the only witness, other than the accused,” Garcia said. “It is what it is.”
Other than testimony from the victim and family members, some of the trial’s weightiest evidence came from a video interview with Anderson and an officer from the New Braunfels Police Department conducted after his arrest in October 2007. Anderson, unaware he was being recorded still, phoned a friend, whose voice was audible to the recording equipment. He asked if the allegations of sexual abuse with a minor were true, to which Anderson replied “yes.”
Families and friends of both victims in New Braunfels and Alabama met with tearful hugs Thursday following the sentencing and the end of an emotional week of testimony.
De Lemos said Anderson likely will never be eligible for parole.
