UPDATE: Orick to serve 120 days

UPDATE:   Former pastor Jimmy Orick has been sentenced for the crimes he committed against a young girl that was living in his home. Appearing before Judge Don Elledge, the Circuit Court Judge in Anderson County appointed to hear his case, Orick was sentenced to 120 days in jail and four years on probation. He must register as a sexual offender and wear an ankle monitor for the first 90 days of his probation, according to court records. Along with this, Orick must pay $10,000 in fines. Orick is slated to report to jail on May 2 at 9 am. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 04/18/2019-10:30AM)

Jimmy Orick (top photo) will be sentenced later this morning for a multitude of sexually related charges involving a teen girl he took into his home.    The young girl had been living with the 70- year-old minister and his wife after it was learned that she lacked a guardian. The child had no father to speak of and a terminally ill mother, court records said. For two months, she lived in the Orick home and attended the La Follette  church Orick pastored.

Orick had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated statutory rape, three counts of attempted statutory rape and two counts of sexual battery by an authority figure. While prosecutors and Orick’s defense team have agreed to a three to four year sentencing range, how those years will be served will be up to Judge Don Elledge.

Elledge is the Circuit Court Judge in Anderson County appointed to hear Orick’s case.

Prosecutors are recommending Orick be jailed.

While the way Orick will be punished will be decided later today, what is known is he will be placed on the sexual offender registry for the rest of his life.

This case dates back to Dec. 2016 when police first interviewed Orick about the allegations.

In his initial interview, Orick denied any responsibility telling Campbell County Detective Ricky Jeffers the young girl had been overtly sexual with him on many occasions, according to court records. While the former preacher admitted to the detective there had been sexual contact with the adolescent, Orick was adamant in his denial he was to blame for any of it.

However, the heart wrenching victim impact statement submitted by the girl does paint Orick as the aggressor, if not predator in the situation.

In the statement, she mentions how “vulnerable” she was when she moved into the Orick’s Jacksboro home and how he “took advantage” of her weakened state.

“All I wanted was someone I could feel safe around, to know that I was wanted; to know I had a place to call home. You took all of that away from me,” she wrote. As the nearly two-page statement continues, the heartbreak and betrayal she endured at the hands of the man she wanted to see as a father figure is apparent in her words.

Prosecutors have been able to paint a pattern of abuse inflicted on the girl by Orick.

In a sentencing memo submitted to the court by prosecutors, the reasons Orick’s sentence should be enhanced were outlined.

He had “no hesitation about committing this offense.” Orick violated a “position of private trust” with the victim because he was acting as a defacto parent and he knew of the particulars in her life that had already made her a victim, the memo said. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 04/18/2019-6AM)