Former First Baptist Church of Danville School Principal and Church Deacon Robert Lazzell has been sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to Criminal Sexual Assault against former student Michael Young.
The sentence was handed down by Associate Judge Derek J. Girton Tuesday (Aug 1st) morning, after a sentencing hearing in front of a standing room crowd in courtroom 3B. The speakers included Michael Young, and his mother and grandmother; all calling for the maximum sentence of 15 years. The defense asked for the minimum of four years.
Young, now 26, stated that the grooming, abuse, and sexual assault, and threats and bribery and efforts to isolate him from his family all began when he was an 8th grader; and that the harassment of him by Lazzell continued when he went away to college in Florida, with Lazzell trying to convince him to come to Maranatha Baptist in Wisconsin where he had gone to work.
Although the defense claimed a psychosexual examination of Lazzell claimed he was low risk for recidivism, Judge Girton looked at Lazzell prior to sentencing him and said that based on the evidence heard, the testimony given, and the pattern of his behavior towards Young for many years, he did not trust him.
The fourth person who spoke at the hearing for the prosecution was a long time friend of Young’s, as well as also a former First Baptist Church member and school student, Kate Gibson. She said after the sentencing that for students like Young and herself; that church was their entire world.
AUDIO: And when your entire world is weaponized against you as a child, you don’t have a chance. You’re easy prey; you’re an easy target. And I appreciated that judge taking all that into consideration, and giving him what I thought was fair sentence.
Gibson also said, this is a great example of where too much power, especially over a child’s way of thinking, can lead to abuse.
AUDIO: When you’re a kid in that situation, it doesn’t matter what you think or how you feel; you don’t get to have boundaries with the adults. The adults tell you what the boundaries are. And I think we saw today the ramifications of a system like that; that does not put checks and balances on the people in power.
The 50-year-old Lazzell will be required to serve 85% of his 12 year sentence.
