On Wednesday, July 13th, an Iredell County Superior Court jury found a former church leader guilty of sexually abusing a teenager.
The jury deliberated for about 50 minutes before finding 49-year old Dalton Smallwood guilty of six counts of statutory sex offense and one count of taking indecent liberties with a child as a result of a sexual relationship he had with a 15-year-old girl.Judge R. William Bell sentenced Smallwood to a minimum of 338 months and a maximum of 478 months (28-40 years) in prison after Assistant District Attorney Crystal Beale asked the judge to impose a sentence that would protect other children from the defendant.
The charges date back to 2012.