1984: Civil Suit Against Jerry Sidell Begins in Georgia
Original publication: November 28, 1984. Original headline: “Civil suit on sex molesting begins.” 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Historical document: terminology and safety guidance reflect the newspaper’s reporting at the time and may not reflect current best practices.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: Civil suit on sex molesting begins
The trial begins Wednesday in a civil suit against a former Jonesboro youth minister convicted of sexually molesting three boys in his charge.
The lawsuit, which is being heard in Clayton Superior Court, was filed by the parents of two of the boys whom Jerry Sidell, 26, was convicted of sexually molesting while he was the youth minister at the First Christian Church of Jonesboro.
Sidell, who is serving three concurrent 10-year sentences for child molestation at the Dodge County Jail in Chester, Ga., was not present Tuesday when a jury was selected.
The trial involves a suit filed by Betty and Larry Martin in connection with Sidell’s fondling and attempt to sodomize their then 11-year-old son at the Woodland Christian Camp in Temple, Ga., in mid-1982.
The boy, who is now 13, is expected to testify in the case Wednesday.
The Martins originally sought $1 million in damages for each of their two sons. But their attorney, Charles Driebe Jr., said Tuesday that he would not ask the jury for a specific amount. “We’ll leave it up to the jury,” he said.
“They (the Martins) have lost a lot mentally, emotionally and monetarily because of this ordeal,” he said. “The state’s remedy in cases like this is to incarcerate people who commit crimes. For this family, the only way they can get a remedy is in obtaining money damages. They incurred a lot of costs in connection with the psychiatric and medical treatment of their sons.”
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 years old 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.
Sidell was sentenced to 10 years in prison in Clayton County after pleading guilty in September 1983 to four counts of child molestation and one count of enticing a minor to commit indecent acts.
Sidell also was sentenced last year to 10 years in prison and 10 years’ probation in Carroll County for the church camp incident there. And he was sentenced to 10 years in DeKalb County after pleading guilty last April to molesting a child during a 1982 church campout.
Four of the five incidents in the Clayton County case allegedly took place at Sidell’s home in Jonesboro, and the other occurred inside the church he served as a youth minister.
The case caused heartache for the victims’ families and divisions within the 400-member church.
The Martins left the church after the father said other members turned cold shoulders toward the family for bringing suit against Sidell.
“We would have liked to handle it ourselves within the church,” First Christian Pastor Mike Portwood said earlier this year.
Source attribution: The Atlanta Constitution (historical clipping from AJC archives; edition should be verified), November 28, 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.
