A top Republican in the state House wrote to a federal judge to call for a lenient sentence for a former youth pastor convicted of child porn possession.
House Majority Whip Jeremy Durham of Franklin wrote the letter in March, about three months after a grand jury declined to indict him on prescription fraud charges sought by prosecutors.
Joseph Todd Neill was ultimately sentenced to more than three years in prison. Police found the child porn images on his computer while investigating a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old congregant at North Fork Baptist Church in Shelbyville.
Durham's character reference written on state House letterhead was cited by the defendant's lawyer in seeking a lower sentence. The lawmaker called for Neill's entire life beyond the "ill-conceived act" to be taken into consideration.
