Former Holland fire chief found guilty of sex crime
Published 12:57 am Saturday, December 20, 2008
A former chief of the Holland Volunteer Fire Department was found guilty in Circuit Court on Friday of taking indecent liberties with a minor.
Gordon Worrell, who was a member of the volunteer fire department since 1982 before resigning earlier this year, is accused of making sexual advances toward three men, two of whom were teenagers at the time.
Worrell will have two more trials next year on the other charges. The first is Jan. 28, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Nicole Belote said. He will be sentenced April 8 for Friday’s conviction.
Two of Worrell’s alleged victims were junior members of the fire department in 1992 and 1994, when he is accused of having made sexual advances toward them, prosecutors have said.
The third alleged victim was 23 at the time when the sexual misconduct is said to have occurred, in 1997.
The victim filed a police report at that time, but no charges were filed until May of this year, when prosecutors charged Worrell with abduction with intent to defile, forcible sodomy and attempted forcible sodomy.