Pastor's Sex Abuse Conviction Sends Message

When Solicitor Scarlett Wilson announced Monday the a decade ago, she noted the significance of the conviction.

"While these cases often have evidentiary challenges, we are willing to work [with] victims and their families to fight for them," said Wilson. "It is never too late to come forward."

The young woman in this case had been abused from 8-years-old until she was 14. She told authorities that she had heard James Doscher was involved in another church in Summerville and she was worried about future victims.

Doscher pleaded guilty Friday. He'll have to serve more than 22 years of his sentence before he'll be eligible for release.

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In November, Patch spoke with . Our story came in the wake of the case against Louis "Skip" ReVille, a Mt. Pleasant youth coach and school administrator who is accused of abusing teen boys over several years in Hanahan, Mt. Pleasant and Dorchester County.

That case, along with the indictment of Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, led victims in cases involving other abusers to come forward with their own stories after years or decades of silence.

These victims are encouraged when they see successful cases moving through the system against other accused abusers, said Shauna Galloway-Williams, executive director of the Greenville-based Julie Valentine Center, a nonprofit that works with recovering abuse victims.

"They start seeing that people are being responsive," she said. "They see that victims are being taken seriously."

As many as 60 percent of child sex victims don't tell anyone until much later in life, says Cindy McElhinney, program director for Darkness to Light, a nonprofit based in Charleston that focuses on empowering adults to recognize signs of abuse.

"Maybe they've been intimidated or groomed or threatened into keeping silent," McElhinney said of victims. "They may not think they will be believed."

Wilson said Monday that the Doscher sentencing should give hope to those victims who haven't been silent about past abuse.

"This prosecution and the hefty sentence is a great message to victims who have not yet been heard," said Wilson.