A Lutheran minister pleaded guilty on Friday in a North Carolina federal courtroom to engaging in illicit sexual conduct in Haiti, according to law enforcement officials.
Rev. Larry Michael Bollinger of Gastonia, N.C., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge David S. Cayer in the Western District of North Carolina to two counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place. The 67-year-old Bollinger was charged in an indictment filed on May 15, 2012.
According to court documents and court proceedings, Bollinger was a Lutheran minister who served as a missionary in Haiti. Court records revealed that Bollinger regularly traveled to Haiti and served as the Haiti director for a Lutheran charity called the Lazarus Project.
Bollinger admitted that from about August 2009 to October 2009, while a cleric and missionary he sexually molested four Haitian females, between the ages of 11 and 16. According to court records, one of the victims said that Bollinger offered her food, clothing and cash in exchange for sexual acts.
Bollinger has been detained in a federal facility since he was first arrested charged in May 2012.
Each count of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. There is no parole in the federal justice system.
A sentencing date for Bollinger has not been set yet. The investigation was conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by President George W. Bush's Department of Justice.
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