Photo Credit: Los Angeles Times
A pastor, Lonny Lee Remmers 56, and two members of a Corona church, Nicholas James Craig, 24, and Darryll Duane Jeter Jr., 30, pleaded guilty Monday to charges of torturing, beating and threatening the life of a 13-year-old boy, authorities said.
According to a witness report in affidavits, the trio tortured the boy in a church-run group home, where they all resided.
Remmers was the pastor of the Heart of Worship Community Church when the torturing took place in March 2012. Craig and Jeter reportedly drove the boy to the desert where they, under the instruction of Remmer, forced him to dig his own grave, forced him to get in the grave and then threw dirt on him in an effort to “scare” the 13 year-old straight.
Steven Larkey, who also lived in the group home, said in the affidavit that while the boy was showering, one of the men rubbed salt in cuts on his back. Larkey told investigators he heard the boy screaming and he saw blood all over the shower the following day.
The victim said in the report that he was tied to a chair with zip ties and placed in the shower. The tormentors sprayed his face with Mace, causing it to bleed and he was not allowed to rinse it off for 30 minutes.
The following evening at a Bible study, Remmer’s asked the victim to sit in the middle of the group and then squeezed the boy’s nipples with pliers.
Remmers pleaded guilty to inflicting bodily injury on a child and assault with a deadly weapon. He will receive a sentence of up to two years in state prison, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The Times added, “At a minimum, he [Remmer] will receive the same sentence as Craig and Jeter, who each were placed on three years of formal probation and must complete a year in custody. They each pleaded guilty to charges of child abuse and making criminal threats, according to the Riverside County district attorney’s office.”
“There were new developments, which we will not be discussing, that caused us to believe this was the best disposition for all those involved,” said John Hall, spokesman for the Riverside County district attorney.
Remmers’ sentencing date is scheduled for Sept. 26.
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Kimberley A. Johnson (BIO) is the author of The Virgin Diaries and an activist for women’s rights. Like her on Facebook, Twitter or follow her on FB HERE. |
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