A Georgia mother has spoken about the trauma her family endured after a former pastor was sentenced to prison for sexually abusing her son.
Marcus Kendall Turner, who previously served in a leadership role at Worship with Wonders, was sentenced to 25 years in prison without the possibility of parole.
Prosecutors said the abuse began in 2023 after Turner invited the middle school student to join a newly formed church youth group. Authorities said he then spent months alone with the boy.
The child’s mother, who has not been publicly identified, said she learned of the abuse during a meeting with church leaders.
"They sat me down, and they said Marcus Turner has something that he would like to tell you, and that's when he told me that he sexually abused my son," she told Fox 5.
"I trusted him, I trusted the pastors. I trusted the pastors as the reason why I trusted him because he was a leader in the church," she said. "I felt sorry for my son. I was devastated because, obviously, all of my life I have protected my kids from this, and I just never thought it would happen in the church of all places."
She said her son’s abuser groomed him in a calculated way, "getting close to him like he wants to help spiritually".
The mother addressed Turner directly in court at his sentencing.
"I offered forgiveness to him," she said. "I did tell him he messed with the wrong mom, and I just told him that I hope during his sentence he can truly repent and ask god to forgive him for what he's done."
She said her son wants to "continue his spiritual journey" but is "hesitant to go back to church".
"It's been 2.5 years of just highs and lows and dealing with the prosecutors and dealing with courts and all of those things, so it was a sense of closure for my family and me to a certain degree, but I know we will live with this for a long time," she added.
Worship with Wonders released a statement following the sentencing, saying it had intentionally remained silent during the legal proceedings "to allow justice to work its course".
"We are satisfied with the sentencing and that closure has been brought to all of this," the church added.
