Former Youth Pastor Sentenced

(St. Francois County, MO.) A Park HIlls man, and former youth pastor for a Bonne Terre church, 36 year old Brian Cassidy, is going to prison after being sentenced to a total of 20 years in prison on felony charges of first degree child molestation and Statutory Rape-1st Degree-Sexual Intercourse with a person less than 14 years old after his court appearance yesterday in St. Francois County. Cassidy pled guilty to the charges. Reports indicate Cassidy was involved with two different girls, one aged less than 17 at the time while the other is said to have been 15. Text messages between Cassidy and the two victims were used to further the investigation. Cassidy was a youth pastor at the First Baptist Church in East Bonne Terre.