Story Archive

Out of Bounds

“This was a guy who had a chance to stand up and take responsibility before it went to trial. He chose not do it,” says Arapahoe County, Colo., District Attorney George Brauchler. Christopher Hutchinson, 37, declined a misdemeanor plea bargain offer and took his chances on a felony trial for molesting a 13-year-old girl. Hutchinson took the stand and accused the girl of lying in “one of the most brutal character assassinations of a child I’ve ever seen,” one prosecutor said. Hutchinson was convicted after admitting his actions were “completely out of bounds with the job I had as youth pastor and as the role I had as a human being.” Yes, Hutchinson was the youth pastor at South Fellowship Church in Littleton. Prosecutors asked for a four-year prison sentence, but District Court Judge Natalie Chase instead gave him 90 days in jail, and ordered him to register as a sex offender and serve 20 years of probation. (RC/Denver Post) ...Although if he has his theology right, he’ll still get what he deserves.