Pastor Gets Life W/O Parole For Molesting Autistic Child

The Mississippi Press reports:

Samuel Lamar Taylor, 52, has been sentenced to life without parole after he was convicted by a Rankin County jury on September 20, 2023, of one count of sexual battery and one count of gratification of lust. Taylor served as a music teacher for over 25 years at schools across Mississippi, retiring from Richland Upper Elementary School in 2020. Taylor was also a minister at several churches throughout Rankin County, dating back to the 1980s.

On August 23, 2022, the Richland Police Department received a call from Richland Upper Elementary School concerning an 11-year-old autistic child disclosing sexual abuse to his Region 8 counselor. During the investigation, authorities located and interviewed at least one other victim who alleged Taylor abused him from 1990-91 when Taylor worked as a counselor at the YMCA on Flowers Dr. in Jackson.

Read the full article. Taylor appeared on our running tally in September 2023 upon his conviction.

Mississippi preacher & school music teacher, Samuel Taylor, has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for the rape of an 11 year old autistic child. pic.twitter.com/uMMkhh46km

— 𝐁𝐞𝐤𝐬 (@antifaoperative) November 13, 2023