Attorney says elder 'gave in to temptation'

Attorney says elder 'gave in to temptation'

A former Jehovah's Witnesses spiritual leader told the Chatham County Sheriff's Office last year that he had made a terrible mistake when he had sexual contact with a teenage girl, his lawyer said in an opening statement Monday.

Oscar Omar Osorto Sr. also told law enforcement that he arranged for two sisters to spend time with their boyfriends -- including renting them motel rooms -- even though such relations were prohibited by the groups' religion, public defender Ken Richardson told jurors. "On two occasions he gave in to temptation and had sex contact [with one of the sisters]," Richardson said.

Osorto, 47, of Liberty faces 27 sex-related charges, including charges of first-degree statutory rape of two sisters. A third sister also is expected to testify that Osorto abused her. The abuse allegedly started when the girls were 12 and continued for four years. Osorto was kicked out of the Jehovah's Witnesses after the allegations surfaced.

Assistant District Attorney Kayley Taber said the girls' mother was very strict, as was the church.

But Osorto, a church elder, would manipulate the girls, including offering them privileges like setting up trysts with their boyfriends in exchange for sexual favors, Taber said.

According to one sister, now 17, Osorto would take her at night to the Siler City Kingdom Hall. In the library, Osorto would have sex with the girl.

"I can remember the lights going out and him telling me that he can help me look better," the girl testified. After that, "he told me to take my pants off."

But Richardson in his opening statement questioned the girls' stories, saying they were "eerily similar, almost as if they were using each others' words."