JACKSON, OHIO: An Ohio minister convicted of sexually assaulting a juvenile and an adult who were members of his congregation and another juvenile has been sentenced to life in prison.
The state attorney general’s office says 67-year-old Dennis Wright was sentenced Thursday in southern Ohio’s Jackson County after a jury found him guilty this week of multiple charges.
Wright, who ministered a small congregation near Oak Hill, was convicted of seven counts of rape, two counts of sexual battery, two counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, and three counts of gross sexual imposition. He had denied the charges.
Prosecutors claimed the minister used his position of authority to target vulnerable victims who trusted him.
He won’t be eligible for parole until he is well over 100 years old.