Ex-youth minister gets life sentence in child sex assault
Upshur man faked death, officials say
By CHRISTINA LANE
LONGVIEW NEWS-JOURNAL
Longview, TX
April 30 , 2008
A former Upshur County youth minister was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday for aggravated sexual assault of a child, Upshur County District Attorney Billy Byrd said.
Kevin Othell Laferney, former youth minister at the First Baptist Church in Glenwood, was scheduled for trial May 12, Byrd said, but Laferney, 41, changed his plea Tuesday and accepted the life sentence.
Laferney was arrested in August 2006 on charges of sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl. He also was charged with indecency with a 10-year-old child in another investigation.
Laferney was held in jail on three bonds that totaled $450,000 and was released on bond in November 2006.
Byrd said Laferney faked his death in February 2007 by leaving his truck in a park on Texas 155 with drops of blood in a baseball cap. He then moved to Montana and assumed a new identity, Byrd said.
U.S. marshals arrested Laferney in August in Montana, he said.
SNAP Note: Glenwood First Baptist Church is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.
See also:
Ex-youth minister accused of sexual abuse, KLTV News 7 Tyler, 8/21/06
Youth minister arrested for sexual assault, KETK NBC 56, 8/22/07