Children will continue to be barred from the Jacksonville worship services sex-offender Darrell Gilyard has been leading Sunday mornings since the end of January.
That was determined in court Friday when Gilyards attorney withdrew a motion seeking a change in the preachers probation status to allow minors in the sanctuary when Gilyard preaches.
The withdrawal came during a hearing in which Circuit Judge Kevin Blazs declared the motion premature because a licensed therapist has yet to determine if the request is appropriate. Until then, the court is unable to make an informed decision, Blazs said from the bench.
The judges remarks followed a sidebar conversation with attorneys that lasted more than 10 minutes.
Gilyard attorney Richard Kuritz said his clients preaching complies with his three-year probation, which bars him from having unsupervised contact with minors.
But another law requires a therapist to determine if supervised contact is appropriate and, if so, under what conditions. Its that latter statute that must be fulfilled before the motion will be filed again, Kuritz said.
Gilyard also must be enrolled or have completed a sex offender therapy program in order to be granted supervised contact with minors, Eliot Park, circuit administrator for the Florida Department of Corrections, said in an emailed statement.
Gilyard said he is currently enrolled in such a program.
He and Christ Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church leaders gathered in the hallway at the Duval County Courthouse after the hearing. They agreed Gilyard will continue to preach and that minors will be prohibited from being anywhere on church grounds until a court rules on the matter. Before, children attended a youth church service in another room while Gilyard preached.
The state Department of Corrections has confirmed that Gilyard is in compliance with the rules of his probation as long as minors are not present when hes in the pulpit. Gilyard also is refraining from performing any pastoral duties, such as counseling.
The pastor and the church leaders who hired him are arguing that minors should be allowed in the sanctuary while he is preaching because they would be accompanied by parents and other adults.
Gilyard said the motion was filed because the North Davis Street church is concerned barring minors could impede its growth and because he refuses to live in the shadows of his offender status.
Somehow I will prove that life isnt over when one has committed a crime for which he receives this heinous label, Gilyard said in a text message Friday afternoon. You dont have to languish on the fringes of society.
Gilyard, 49, was released from state prison Dec. 28 after serving three years for committing sex crimes against two teenage church members at Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church in Jacksonville, where he was the pastor at the time. After his 2009 conviction and imprisonment, he admitted to fathering a child with a woman who accused him of raping her during a 2004 counseling session.
So far, Gilyards status as a registered sex offender isnt keeping people away, church leaders said. With an average attendance of around 10 before Gilyard came to preach, numbers have shot up to 150 and 200 since his first sermon on Jan. 29, they said.
