September 1983: Jerry Sidell Pleads Guilty to Child Molestation Charges
Original publication: September 22, 1983. Original headline: “Ex-Jonesboro minister pleads guilty in child molesting case.” Byline: John Brady.
Content note: This archival report discusses child sexual abuse. Some passages describe alleged abuse and its effects on victims.
Editorial transcription note: Newspaper wording is preserved as closely as legible; line-break hyphenation and paragraph layout are normalized. Square brackets identify unreadable print, not original article words.
From the archive
Original newspaper headline: Ex-Jonesboro minister pleads guilty in child molesting case
Former Jonesboro minister Jerry A. Sidell pleaded guilty Wednesday to four counts of child molesting and one count of enticing a child for indecent purposes, a spokesman for the Clayton County district attorney’s office said.
Clayton Superior Court Judge Joe C. Crumbley accepted the guilty plea, but he deferred sentencing until completion of a presentence investigation by the county probation office, said Ronnie Clackum, chief administrator in the district attorney’s office.
Each of the five charges against Sidell carries a sentence of from one to 20 years in prison, he said.
The indictments returned against Sidell Aug. 25 charged him in five separate incidents involving two 12-year-old boys between Feb. 13, 1982 and May 11, 1983.
Four of the incidents occurred at Sidell’s home in Jonesboro, where he was youth minister of the First Christian Church, and the other occurred inside the church itself, according to authorities.
Sidell was arrested May 15 at a church camp in Carroll County, where he had taken a group of children under church auspices.
Source attribution: Historical Atlanta newspaper clipping, September 22, 1983; article by John Brady; supplied through the Atlanta Journal-Constitution archival research collection. Original newspaper edition not independently confirmed from these cropped scans. Transcription prepared from provided microfilm reproductions; newspaper text and images remain the property of their respective rights holders.
