DeSOTO COUNTY, Miss.–A former DeSoto County pastor and educator has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for having sex with and molesting underage boys.
David Paul Harris was ordered to serve his full sentence, with no possibility of early release or parole.
Court documents indicate that a victim came forward and told authorities about multiple instances of sexual abuse that happened when he was young. Other victims then came forward, describing sex acts that happened at Harris’ home and at a gym.
According to the court papers the crimes go back as far as 2015.
Harris was arrested last year and pleaded guilty to the crimes.
Also in DeSoto County, a man who had been arrested and convicted of child exploitation in 2018, was arrested and charged with trying to get a child in Lee county to send him pornographic images.
Police said Justin Reese, 48, of Olive Branch, was unsuccessful. He was arrested at his home and taken back to Lee county to face charges.
