Preacher gets 30 years in prison

Testimony of 2 boys helps convict known sex offender in molestation case

By Nadine Parks

The Post and Courier

Thursday, July 30, 2009

A charismatic preacher who built a loyal following, despite his history as a child molester, has stepped from behind the pulpit and is staring down the long aisle of a 30-year prison sentence.

The congregation of Full Word Ministries in North Charleston stayed true to Pastor Tyrone Moore to the end. Church members on Wednesday crowded a Moncks Corner courtroom to support him, but the testimony of two boys proved damning.

Moore, 42, was convicted on two counts of committing a lewd act upon a minor, 9th Circuit Assistant Solicitor Debbie Herring-Lash said. She said a jury found Moore guilty of fondling two boys, ages 12 and 13, multiple times between 2004 and 2006 at his home in Berkeley County.

Circuit Judge R. Markley Dennis gave the preacher the maximum penalty — back-to-back 15-year terms.

"The victims, now 16 and 14, had to go into the details of these assaults," Herring-Lash said. "One of the young victims lamented that he no longer wanted to attend church as a result of the assaults."

Moore faces additional, similar charges, the solicitor's office said.

It was not clear if the Gordon Street church is still open or if Moore had continued to preach until the trial this week. The church's two phone numbers are disconnected, and one former member of the congregation said the church closed its doors a few weeks ago.

Full Word Ministries once boasted more than 1,000 members, but its numbers dwindled after Moore's arrests in multiple molestation cases. He has been accused of molesting or assaulting eight young males at the church or in his home between 2002 and 2006. The accusers ranged in age from 11 to 21.

Previous stories

Church hits hard times; Sex abuse charges, legal actions challenge Full Word Ministries, published 05/25/08

Minister arrested after posting bail, published 01/08/09

Moore was a married father of four children and a registered sex offender when he was arrested in 2006 and charged with molesting a 17-year-old youth at his church between 2002 and 2003. He later was charged and accused of molesting several other males at his Goose Creek home.

He had previously pleaded guilty in 1989 and 1991 to sexually abusing young girls while serving as choir director at his grandfather's church, Reformed House of God in North Charleston. One girl told authorities that Moore apparently gave her a sexually transmitted disease that could prevent her from having children.

Prosecutors had tried to have Moore declared a sexually violent predator and to have him committed to a psychiatric institution, but the judge denied the request. Moore was released from jail in 2000. Two years later, he and his growing congregation bought the church, and he returned to his sexual exploits.

After the series of molestation charges in 2006, Moore spent about a year in jail before scraping together enough money to make bail, which was originally $1.25 million but had been reduced. He was no longer the sole pastor of the church but returned to the pulpit to preach to adults only, under the terms of his release.

The church hired off-duty police officers to keep juveniles out, and Moore awaited a vindication that never came.

One child's family sued the church and its leaders, claiming they failed to protect him and other children from the known sex offender. The child's attorney, Scott Beard, said that case was resolved a few months ago, but he said he couldn't comment on the outcome.

The church in 2006 had leased a 10,000-square-foot building on Dorchester Road and planned to open a huge outreach center designed to draw children from the community. But soon after Moore's arrest, the church was evicted from the space for failing to pay the rent.

Reach Nadine Parks at 937-5573 or nparks@postandcourier.com.