1983: Jerry Sidell Indicted on Child Molestation and Enticement Charges
Original publication: August 27, 1983. Original headline: “Ex-youth minister is indicted.” 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-youth minister is indicted
The former youth minister of a Jonesboro church has been indicted by the Clayton County grand jury on one count of enticing a minor for indecent purposes and four counts of child molesting.
If convicted, Jerry A. Sidell, 26, formerly of 218 Lee St., Jonesboro, faces one to 20 years on each count, according to Ronnie Clackum of the Clayton district attorney’s office.
The indictments involve five alleged incidents involving two 12-year-old boys between Feb. 13, 1982, and May 11, 1983, Clackum said.
Four allegedly occurred at Sidell’s home in Jonesboro, where Sidell was youth minister of the First Christian Church of Jonesboro, and the other allegedly inside the church, Clackum added.
Sidell also is a defendant in three civil suits charging that he molested three young boys. In each suit, $1 million in damages is sought.
“Although we’ve only indicted him for (alleged incidents involving) two young boys, the investigation has revealed that he was involved with five,” Clackum said.
The other cases related to alleged incidents in DeKalb and Carroll counties, where Sidell had taken young boys on trips under church auspices, according to Clackum.
“It would be up to the district attorneys in those counties to determine whether to try him there,” Clackum said.
He said the youths in the other alleged incidents may be called as witnesses in the Clayton cases.
Source attribution: Historical Atlanta newspaper clipping, August 27, 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.
