Former Pastor Awaits Prison Sentence After Admitting to Sexually Molesting Young Girls in Haiti
A former North Carolina minister who pleaded guilty in 2013 to sexually molesting underage Haitian girls received a 25-year sentence from a federal judge on Friday.
Larry Michael Bollinger, 68, pleaded with a federal court judge for over an hour to prevent him receiving a maximum 120-year sentence, and admitted that he was a sex addict who for years had been obsessed with pornography, and had solicited sex from prostitutes, as well as frequented adult bookstores.
Once he was in Haiti and the opportunity presented itself to sexually abuse the girls, Bollinger "crossed boundaries I never imagined I would have crossed."
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"I'm very embarrassed that I let myself slip to those depths, but I did," he said tearing up in the court room, reported WSOC.
After spending the last year in prison, Bollinger returned to federal court Friday because he entered a conditional guilty plea in his 2013 court hearing that authorized him to "appeal a federal judge's ruling that denies his motion to dismiss the charges against him."
Larry Michael Bollinger confessed last year to molesting four girls who ranged from 11 years old and up, while working at a non-profit in the country. He served as a Lutheran minister for 33 years in North Carolina before he and his wife began working in 2004 with the Lazarus Project in Haiti, which runs a vocational school and medical clinic.
Although his wife often accompanied him to Haiti, she often left the country before he did, which was when he abused the girls, said prosecutors.
In 2009, Bollinger and his wife went to counseling where they signed an agreement permitting the counselor to report any information to authorities regarding the abuse or exploitation of a child. After the former pastor disclosed that he had sexually abused Haitian girls, the counselor reported him.
Bollinger, who is currently in jail, has not been reticient in showing his remorse for his actions.
"I would not be here if I had not confessed what I had done," Bollinger told U.S. Magistrate Judge David Cayer last year. "I am very remorseful … I am willing to accept responsibility."
Each sex charge had a maximum sentence of 30 years and a $250,000 fine.
