Church leader who molested boys was ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing,’ Bibb prosecutor says

A Macon man who was a youth group leader at a small Monroe County church was convicted Thursday of child molestation for illicit sex acts with two underage boys over parts of the past decade.

The acts included showering with and fondling the boys, who were under the age of 16.

Prosecutors in the three-day trial of 34-year-old Jack Lance “Jay” Hutcheson said he molested the boys while they were regular attendees of Sanctuary Baptist Church in Forsyth between 2009 and 2015.

The sex acts happened at Hutcheson’s house in neighboring Bibb County’s Lake Wildwood subdivision, where the boys sometimes spent the night, played video games and watched movies.

All told, Hutcheson, who chose not to testify, was convicted of four counts of child molestation. He was also found guilty of two counts of enticing a child for indecent purposes. Hutcheson was sentenced to 60 years, with 25 of them behind bars and the remainder on probation.

“Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep’s clothing,” prosecutor Nancy Scott Malcor had said in her opening statement to jurors on Tuesday, quoting scripture.

“That is exactly what the defendant was to the children and the church family who trusted him,” Malcor went on. “He was a wolf in sheep’s clothing, outwardly appearing to be a devoted man of God, volunteering with his church’s middle school youth, playing the guitar in the church’s band. … (He) used his position as a leader in a church — a youth leader — to manipulate and molest those boys entrusted to his care.”

Hutcheson’s crimes came to light after his first victim — the oldest of the two boys in the case — grew suspicious of Hutcheson’s interest in a younger church boy. The younger boy testified that the sex acts Hutcheson performed on or with him were “too many” to count.

The first victim shared his suspicions with a woman at the church. That woman testified at trial and said the first victim had spoken up because he didn’t want what happened to him happening to other children.

Hutcheson’s lawyer, Lars Anderson, did his best to discredit both boys’ stories, seizing on apparent inconsistencies in their recollections and timelines, and portraying their allegations as untruths.

“If accusers lie,” Anderson said in his closing argument Thursday, “regardless of their age, they are not worthy of belief.”

In her closing remarks, Malcor, the prosecutor, described Hutcheson as “a predator” and “a pervert who can’t stop touching” boys.

Malcor also praised the first victim in the case for speaking up.

“He did it,” she said, “to save another little boy.”

This story was originally published August 16, 2018 at 1:30 PM.