Dwight "Chris" John, 72, pleaded guilty to consolidated charges in the case, receiving 20 years with 30 more suspended Thursday.
Ketchikan’s state courthouse (Eric Stone/KRBD)
Note: This story could be triggering for some listeners as it contains details of sexual assault.
A former Ketchikan church leader was sentenced to 20 years in prison with 30 more suspended by a local judge last week, in a high-profile case of child sexual abuse.
Earlier this year, 72-year-old Dwight “Chris” John was charged with 14 counts of first-degree, second-degree and third-degree sexual abuse of a minor, as well as three related felony charges. John — once the congregation leader of Clover Pass Community Church — pleaded guilty to consolidated charges, and his sentence was handed down Thursday by Superior Court Judge Katherine Lybrand.
Lybrand said that the final sentence will protect the community. If John is ever released from custody, she said, he will be a very elderly man subject to strict probation.
Lybrand also recognized that the impacts to the victim and community were profound, and said her sentence appropriately accounts for that impact.
The victim’s father took the stand at sentencing. He told the court that family members have only just begun to fully realize the pain, sorrow, and damage John caused.
The victim, who is now a teenager, originally reported the abuse to their father. They said John had been abusing them since the age of nine. The father then reported it to Alaska State Troopers.
The victim’s father went on to explain that the faith leader’s crimes “tore apart their family and caused them to leave the state to start fresh elsewhere.”
According to John’s original charging documents, he told the child’s father during a phone call monitored by law enforcement that he almost decided not to take the leadership position because of the abuse. But he said he decided to because he felt God had forgiven him.
Note: Identifying details of the victim have been intentionally left out of this story as KRBD’s policy is to not to identify victims of sexual assault.