Former McKinney Church Instructor Pleads Guilty to Molesting Girls in Congregation, Gets 50 Years in Prison

Two weeks before an 8-year-old was set to testify against the man who pleaded guilty to molesting her since she was a baby, her parents had to call emergency help to stop her from carrying out a suicide plan, they testified.Her outcry sparked McKinney police's investigation into Noel Young Anderson, now 23, in March 2018. She was the only one of the five victims investigators found who was able to take the stand. Most of the girls were too young to remember what Anderson said he did to them.Anderson pleaded guilty to one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14 in a Collin County court, and jurors deliberated for nearly two full days before sentencing him to 50 years in prison years in prison Friday afternoon.He faced 25 years to life. Most of the victims don't remember being molested, for which their parents are grateful. But the abuse has damaged many of their family members' relationships, faith lives, and trust in their community.Some have left the church where they met Anderson, who taught children ages 7 to 8 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on North Lake Forest Drive.Anderson didn't molest the girls he taught at church, he told police. They were too old, he said, and might have talked.Instead, he chose the infants he babysat for fellow parishioners. He would masturbate as he changed one 18-month-old's diapers, then as she grew older began molesting her and forcing to perform sex acts on him. He continued until she was six."This is what turns him on," prosecutor Nick Lawrence told jurors, pointing to a baby photo of the girl in a yellow onesie, with her baby teeth just beginning to grow in.A 3-year-old came home from Anderson's house and told her parents that Anderson had tickled her "here," pointing to her genitals.The Dallas Morning News generally does not identify victims of sexual assault.She was too young to explain what she meant, so her parents did not call police, but they forbade their children from visiting the Anderson's home. When they attended church two days later, her father had to stop her from going to sit with Anderson when he motioned for her to join him in the back of the church, the father testified Thursday.Her father hasn't attended church since police confirmed last year that Anderson had abused the girl. Knowing that Anderson lied his way through spiritual counseling and continued abusing girls when he returned from his 2-year mission has shattered his ability to trust and to have faith, he testified."He's got a very dark soul," the man said through tears.Anderson said in an interview with police that he had tried to stop, but was asked to babysit a previous victim when he returned from a mission trip. He had a "history" with the child, he told police, and couldn't help but continue the abuse."What kind of 'history' can you possibly have with a 6-year-old?" chief felony prosecutor Geeta Singleton asked the jury Thursday morning. "He used these babies to live out his own sexual fantasies."  Continue reading...