Tennessee pastor found guilty of raping, abusing child

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee pastor has been found guilty of 24 counts involving child sex abuse in the first of three trials.

News outlets report a jury found 40-year-old Ronnie Gorton guilty Wednesday on charges including sexual battery and statutory rape.

The 18-year-old victim told jurors the abuse started the day he moved in with Gorton and his wife in 2017. He said Gorton justified his actions by citing a Bible verse which said “holding each other is just a way to show love.”

Gorton’s sentencing hearing will start in November.

The pastor at the now-defunct Awakening Church in Atoka still faces trials involving two other teenagers who accused him of rape. One was 12 at the time.