1985: Jerry Sidell Civil Award Set Aside; New Trial Granted
Original publication: January 10, 1985. Original headline: “Youth minister convicted of child molestation will get new civil trial.” 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Historical document: terminology and safety guidance reflect the newspaper’s reporting at the time and may not reflect current best practices.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: Youth minister convicted of child molestation will get new civil trial
A former Jonesboro youth minister who was ordered to pay $500,000 to a 13-year-old boy he molested in 1982 will get a new civil trial in the case, the boy’s attorney said Wednesday.
Clayton County Superior Court Judge William Ison ruled on Wednesday that Jerry Sidell’s attorney, William Latson, was improperly denied his opening and closing arguments in the November trial. Ison also presided at that trial.
Ison’s ruling nullifies the $500,000 award made to the boy, whose older brother also has a civil suit against Sidell. That suit is on the Clayton County Superior Court calendar for Monday, said Charles Driebe Jr., the boys’ attorney.
Despite Ison’s ruling, Driebe said, the boys’ family had no intention of dropping their suits, in which they claim Sidell repeatedly sexually molested their sons while he was the youth minister at the First Christian Church of Jonesboro.
“We intend to see this thing all the way through,” Driebe said. “A new trial has been granted on technical grounds not substantive grounds. The substance of the evidence was not improper. This is a setback for us, but we will continue.”
Even before the ruling Wednesday, the boys’ family had decided to move from Jonesboro. “We are tired of it all,” said Betty Martin, their mother. “We’re being run out on a rail.”
Mrs. Martin said she has received angry phone calls and letters since the trial. The callers and writers condemned her and her husband, Larry, for taking the case to court and exposing their sons to further emotional stress.
“Larry has a new job, so we’re leaving,” she said. “We’ve been going through this for two years and we’ve had enough.”
Shortly after the Martins complained to the police that Sidell was molesting their sons, the family left the First Christian Church, where they believed they were no longer welcome.
Sidell, 28, is serving three concurrent 10-year sentences for molesting boys from the church.
The Martins filed the suits in 1983 originally seeking $1 million in damages from Sidell. After they won the November trial, the Martins said they considered the judgment only symbolic and did not expect to get any money from Sidell.
Their son, who was 11 when he was molested, gave an emotional account of the 1982 incidents during the trial. The incidents occurred during a church-sponsored trip to the Woodland Christian Camp in Temple, Ga. Sidell later confessed to sexually molesting the boys.
Source attribution: Historic Atlanta newspaper clipping from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution archives (edition to verify), January 10, 1985. 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.
