An 87-year-old former pastor of a Warsaw, VA church has pleaded guilty to multiple counts of child sex abuse under an Alford plea.
Albert Benjamin Wharton, who led Victory Baptist Church and oversaw its affiliated Berachah Christian Academy, was indicted on 31 felonies after being extradited from Pickens County, SC in late 2023.
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Monday, in Richmond County Circuit Court, he pleaded guilty to eight charges—including six counts of indecent liberties and two of aggravated sexual battery—stemming from incidents alleged between 1981 and 1997.
The victims, all former students, who were under 18, and in two indictments under 13, were prepared to testify that Wharton routinely summoned them to his office while serving as head of school for the church’s academy. They claimed over the course of years, he touched them inappropriately, rubbing and grabbing breasts and fondling private areas around their underwear. One of the charges involved requiring the student to sit on his lap while he touched her, and another alleged he reportedly made the student touch his privates.
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Despite entering the Alford plea, Wharton maintained his innocence and expressed repeated dissatisfaction about not being allowed to refute the claims in court. Before the plea agreement was finalized, Judge John S. Martin clarified several times that an Alford plea is a plea of guilt. A reality, Wharton reluctantly accepted.
The plea agreement does not include a sentencing recommendation, and it leaves Wharton exposed to the possibility of consecutive sentences.
When Wharton returns to court for sentencing in September, both the prosecution and defense plan to call multiple witnesses, including the victims.
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