1984 Court Testimony in the Jerry Sidell Child Molestation Case
Original publication: November 29, 1984. Original headline: “Clayton jury to start deliberation in sexual molestation civil suit.” Byline: Bert Roughton Jr.
Content note: This archival report discusses child sexual abuse and its effects.
Historical document: terminology and safety guidance reflect the newspaper’s reporting at the time and may not reflect current best practices. Line-end hyphenation has been normalized for readability.
From the archive
Original newspaper headline: Clayton jury to start deliberation in sexual molestation civil suit
A Clayton County jury will decide Thursday whether a Jonesboro youth minister convicted of sexually molesting an 11-year-old boy during a 1982 church camping trip should pay $1 million in damages for what he did to the boy.
Charles Driebe Jr., the attorney for the boy’s parents, asked the jurors to send a message with their verdict to Jerry Sidell, the former youth minister of the First Christian Church of Jonesboro.
“Send Mr. Sidell a message that he has ruined this boy’s life,” Driebe said in his closing arguments late Wednesday. “Send (this boy) a message that Jerry Sidell owes him something and he is not going to get away with it. And send the community a message that Mr. Sidell has done something wrong and we won’t put up with it.”
Sidell, 26, has been convicted of sexually molesting three boys in his charge. He is at the Dodge County Jail in Chester, Ga., serving three concurrent 10-year prison terms and was not at the trial.
Betty and Larry Martin filed two suits against Sidell and originally sought $1 million in damages for each of their two sons. Driebe said before the trial for the suit involving the younger son that he would leave the determination of the amount of damages to the jury.
But Wednesday, Driebe’s associate, Michael Martin, said the family was asking for $1 million. “A million dollars is not enough, but it’s a start,” he said.
The suit on behalf of the older son has not yet come to trial.
The Martins’ younger son, testifying Wednesday, gave an emotional account of the incidents at the Woodland Christian Camp in Temple, Ga., in 1982. The boy, now 13, said he was too scared to resist Sidell, who molested him twice during the trip.
In the first incident, the boy testified that he was sleeping in a cottage when Sidell awakened him, and put the boy’s hand on his body.
“I didn’t know what was going on. I was afraid. I was always taught to be respectful to adults,” the boy said. “I didn’t know what he would do. I was wondering if I was gay or something.”
Before sunrise on the following morning, Sidell pulled the boy to his bunk and began fondling him. “I started crying. I didn’t know what to do,” he said. “I told him I was scared. He told me he had molested my brother, too. He began hugging me and trying to calm me down.”
Later, Sidell took him to the showers and started bathing him and then asked the boy to bathe him in return, the youth testified. He said he resisted and then agreed. “I was scared. I didn’t know what to do,” the boy said.
The youth said he kept quiet about the incident for a year. “He told me not to tell anybody what had happened,” he said. “He said he would lose his job and his wife would divorce him.”
In May 1983, he and his older brother told their father what had been going on, and Sidell was arrested.
“The testimony shows that there has been a great deal of suffering and that the family has never recovered from these blows,” Driebe said. “The state has exacted its penalty, but the Martins have not gotten any satisfaction.
“Jerry Sidell is incarcerated, but that doesn’t put (the Martin boy) back where he was. That doesn’t pay for his psychiatric care. That doesn’t pay for the pain and suffering. That doesn’t pay for the contempt and scorn of the community brought to this family.”
Bill Latson, Sidell’s attorney, argued that the family’s attorney failed to show how much the Martins have spent on medical expenses or the severity of the damage done to the boy.
“Certainly what happened was nothing as forceful and lurid as these people have alleged,” Latson said. He said the boy was recovering and did not need the money to get well.
“Apparently this boy has begun the healing process,” he said. “There is no question in my mind that this boy will continue the healing process in the future.”
Dr. Kirk Lalor, a clinical psychologist who treated the boy for almost a year, testified earlier Wednesday that the youth was suffering from depressive neurosis and needed continued treatment.
“The long-term effects of having been sexually abused can be profound,” Lalor said. “He may suffer ongoing chronic depression, anxiety, eventual sexual problems and the tendency to abuse drugs and alcohol.”
The Martins’ other suit charges that Sidell repeatedly had sex over a period of more than a year with their older son, who was 12 when the first incident occurred.
A third suit against Sidell is based on a 1981 incident with a 13-year-old from another family at a Stone Mountain Park church outing.
Driebe, who also is handling the other suits, said he is unsure when those actions will go to court.
Source attribution: The Atlanta Constitution, November 29, 1984. Article by Bert Roughton Jr. Transcribed from historical microfilm scans supplied for research. Original headline and byline retained. Newspaper text and imagery belong to their respective rights holders.
