NORFOLK, Va. — A judge on Monday convicted a Norfolk youth pastor on charges of traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor.
Charles Willoughby III, 39, served as a youth leader at New Life Worship Center in Norfolk from 2006 to 2012. The center is on Briar Hill Road in the Poplar Halls area.
“From 2006 to 2012, Willoughby routinely groomed minor teenage girls who were part of the church’s youth program in order to attempt to sexually abuse them,” a release from the U.S. Department of Justice said.
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Court records show that in 2012, while on a youth field trip, Willoughby forced a 15-year-old girl to engage in a sexual act. The girl did not disclose the abuse until 2018. Afterward, other victims were identified.
Willoughby faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. He’ll be sentenced on April 19, 2023.