FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Case # 16NF2157
Date: November 15, 2017
FORMER TEACHER AND ELDER FOR JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES CHURCH CONVICTED OF SEXUALLY ASSAULTING TEEN BOY
FULLERTON, Calif. – A former teacher and elder for a Jehovah’s Witnesses church was convicted yesterday of sexually assaulting a teenage boy he met at church.
|
Defendant |
Charges |
Maximum Sentence |
Court Date |
|
Jason Morris Gorski, 44, Fort Mill, South Carolina, |
Pleaded guilty yesterday to the following felony counts:
|
10 years in state prison |
Sentencing
Jan. 26, 2018, 8:30 a.m.
Department N-3, North Justice Center, Fullerton |
Circumstances of the Case
- Prior to April 2007, Gorski was employed as a school teacher at the now-closed Southwestern Longview Private School in Long Beach for approximately four years. He met John Doe at the school.
- At the time of the crimes, Gorski was an active member of a Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation in Cypress.
- Between June 12, 2007, and June 11, 2008, the defendant violated his position of leadership and trust as an appointed elder by sexually assaulting 13-year-old John Doe at various locationsin Buena Park.
- In 2009, John Doe reported the abuse to their congregation. Gorski was removed from his position as an elder, but remained an active member of the congregation.
- In 2010, Gorski moved to South Carolina and began attending a Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation in nearby Charlotte, North Carolina.
- In March 2016, John Doe reported the sexual abuse to law enforcement, and on June 21, 2016, Gorski was arrested by the Buena Park Police Department, who investigated this case.
Prosecutor: Deputy District Attorney Karyn Stokke, Sexual Assault Unit