Former Alabama Pastor Jason Greathouse, charged with raping a 14 year old, faced 20 years in prison, but has been placed on unsupervised probation after reaching a plea agreement with the prosecutors. He also won’t have to to register as a sex offender.
Coffee County District Attorney’s Office downgraded his charge from second-degree rape, a felony, to contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor, according to court records.
Tom Anderson, Coffee County District Attorney told the press that his office made the deal because “there were extenuating circumstances that would have been allowed to be presented by the defense that very likely could have resulted in a mistrial or even a not guilty [verdict] by jury nullification.”
Greathouse married the girl he raped after she got pregnant due to her parents urging them to get married. The incident occurred in 2008 when Greathouse was 24 and Ashley Pereira 14. Greathouse had been living with his family and had had a sexual relationship with the victim. According to WTVY, Pereira, testifying during the Oct. 14 sentencing hearing, told Coffee County Circuit Judge Jeff Kelley that Greathouse took advantage of her innocence. She became pregnant and her family forced them to marry, she claimed. By 2009, the couple had divorced.
It wasn’t until 2020 that Pereira, who has built a life for herself in Tennessee, formally accused the pastor of rape. The report says that since Pereira married Greathouse after the crime, which occurred 13 years ago, there have been serious challenges for prosecutors. Therefore, prosecutors “felt that this (plea deal) is in the best interest of all parties.” They said that if a jury had not convicted Greathouse, she would have walked away without consequences.
Judge Jeff Kelley has prohibited Greathouse from having contact with his ex-wife, except for matters related to his son.
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