‘I have a problem’: Pastor admits to sexually assaulting child, sentenced to life in prison

PONCE DE LEON, Fla. (WJHG/Gray News) - A Florida pastor has been sentenced to life in prison for sexually battering a teenage boy who was under his custodial authority.

State Attorney Larry Basford announced that Circuit Judge Russell Roberts sentenced Randon Lee Carroll, 41, on Tuesday.

Prosecutors said the reported abuse happened earlier this year.

Carroll had been scheduled to stand trial in October but entered an open plea to sexual battery of a victim over 12 but under 18 while under his custodial authority. He also pleaded to sexual performance by a child for videotaping some of the acts, prosecutors said.

An open plea leaves the sentence to the judge.

According to the State Attorney’s Office, Holmes County Chief Prosecutor Jake Cook had not offered Carroll a plea deal other than life in prison.

Prosecutors said Carroll confessed to the sexual acts, saying, “I have a problem. I shouldn’t have done it.”

The details the defendant gave during his interview matched the details given by the victim.

During Tuesday’s sentencing hearing, Cook presented the state’s case, cross-examined defense witnesses and asked Roberts to impose the maximum sentence.

“I think this is the worst possible act that can be committed against a child. Your honor and the state request that he die in prison,” Cook told the judge.

In a written impact statement, the victim’s mother described the family’s strong religious beliefs and questioned how a pastor could deliver sermons while sexually battering a child.

“It takes a wicked person to do that,” she wrote. “There’s no way this is of God. This is pure evil.”

Cook said he hoped the sentence would provide justice for the victim and his family.

Basford thanked the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office for investigating the case.