According to the article, the man had previously served 10 years in prison for rape. Was already a Level 3 sex offender when "appointed" as an elder.
From the article...
"SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) - A 62-year-old Springfield man, classified as a Level 3 Sex Offender is facing years in jail after being found guilty on multiple counts of Indecent Assault and Battery on a Child.
The female victim in this case was 13-years-old at the time, according to the Hampden District Attorney’s Office.
Jay Aaron Smith, who serves as elder in the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Springfield according to authorities, faced 4 Counts of Indecent Assault and Battery on a Child Under 14.
He was recently found guilty by a Hampden Superior Court jury and on Wednesday a judge sentenced him to 15 years in prison followed by 5 years probation.
According to Jim Leydon, representative of the Hampden DA’s Office, the sexual abuse happened over a number of months.
“The abuse of the child appears to have occurred over a series of several months from late 2020 through early 2021, the child would have been 13 years old at the time,” Leydon noted.
We’re told Smith previously served 10 years in prison in Georgia for rape in the late 1980′s. He was classified by the State of Massachusetts’ Sex Offender Registry Board as a Level 3 Sex Offender at the time of these offenses.
In this latest case, the Hampden DA called the female victim brave for bringing Smith to justice.
“I am deeply grateful to the brave survivor for bringing this abuser to the light of justice. Her courage and strength keeps other children safe from this predator. I thank the survivor, the jury, detectives with the Springfield Police Department, and Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Vasiliades, who is assigned to my office’s Special Victim’s Unit, for her skillful prosecution of this case.”
Hampden District Attorney, Anthony Gulluni"