Only On 8: Former Warsaw pastor pleads guilty to child sex crimes
VENN
RICHMOND COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A former pastor of the Victory Baptist Church in Warsaw has pleaded guilty to eight child sex crimes.
During a plea hearing the afternoon of Monday, June 16, Albert Wharton entered an Alford plea for eight charges related to indecent liberties with a child and aggravated sexual assault.
On Dec. 8, 2023, Wharton was arrested in South Carolina by the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI and South Carolina’s Pickens County Sheriff’s Department. He was charged with 22 felony counts of taking indecent liberties with a child under the age of 13 while in a custodial position and eight felony counts of aggravated sexual assault.
The church leader was ultimately charged with a total of 30 felony charges in 2023 for crimes committed between 1981 and 1997.
After Wharton pleaded guilty Monday afternoon, Richmond County Commonwealth’s Attorney Elizabeth Trible announced the remaining charges were nolle prosequi -- meaning officials are declining to prosecute.
Wharton entered an Alford plea. This means that, per his plea agreement, he is maintaining his innocence while recognizing the Commonwealth’s evidence could find him guilty if this case were sent to trial.
Trible shared some of that evidence with the court during the plea hearing. She stated that, if this case were to go to trial, the victims in this case would share their account of interactions with Wharton while he was a preacher at Berachah Academy, the church’s school.
The evidence shared states that victims remember being called into an office at the school. Some of the accounts mentioned include Wharton touching the victims inappropriately, having the students sit on his lap and having them touch his genitals over his clothes.
One of those victims, Amy Hall, was present during the hearing.
“Sometimes you get so busy in your everyday life and then you forget things -- or don't think about it a lot because you're so busy," Hall said. "And that's what happened in here today ... with me just hearing all the details, [it] kind of brought it back on my face again."
Trible said that, by dropping the remaining charges, Wharton’s maximum sentence was lessened.
“I'm grateful for the hard work of Investigator Bruce, who's now retired from the sheriff's department -- and I'm pleased for our victims who did not have to testify today,” she said.
Trible is overall pleased with the outcome of the plea hearing. However, Hall said her feelings are more mixed.
“In the beginning, when I knew he might do that [reach a plea agreement] -- I found it offensive," Hall said. "It [still] bothers me. Not as much as it did, but it still bothers me ... because I think he knows what he did."
Wharton and his attorney declined to comment following the hearing.
Wharton is expected to appear in court again on Sept. 8 for sentencing.
