Former pastor sentenced to 3 years in prison

COLUMBUS, Ind. (The Republic) — The former senior pastor of one of the largest congregations in Columbus was sentenced to three years in prison as part of his guilty plea to two felony counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Justin White, 38, who recently moved to Camby, was taken away by the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department in handcuffs immediately after his sentencing Friday in Bartholomew Circuit Court.

White received a three-year prison sentence on one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and a four-year sentence on the second count, which was suspended. Judge Kelly Benjamin ruled White would be on probation for that four-year sentence, to be served after the prison sentence, and he could not have unsupervised contact with juveniles or counsel juveniles during that time.

White pleaded guilty in August to two counts of aiding or inducing a juvenile to commit an act that would be a felony if committed by an adult, according to court documents. He admitted to aiding and inducing a juvenile, who was then 16 years old, to deal in two narcotic drugs, hydrocodone and oxycontin, court documents said.For more on this story, see Saturday’s Republic.