Twenty-five years after seven women and girls first reported sexual abuse by Pastor Michael Sperou to Portland, Ore., police, a judge has sentenced Sperou to more than 13 years in prison.

The sentencing came after the third time Sperou, 72, was convicted of sexually abusing one girl whose parents were members of the North Clackamas Bible Community (NCBC), where Sperou was the pastor. Two previous guilty verdicts were overturned due to legal technicalities.

El mes pasado, El Informe Roys (TRR) reported that a jury in Multnomah County found Sperou guilty of two counts of sexual abuse.

Investigators say Sperou sexually abused seven young girls whose families attended the church he pastored from 1988 to 1996.

When the case went to trial, charges for the abuse against six of the seven survivors were outside the statute of limitations. Still, all seven women were allowed to testify.

Sperou was convicted on all counts. However, the Oregon Supreme Court overturned the convictions in 2019 after finding the use of the word “victim” by witnesses was impermissible.

The case returned to trial in 2020, and the jury delivered an 11-1 guilty verdict. Later that year, however, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that verdicts must be unanimous for serious crimes.

The third trial occurred in May 2023, where Sperou was found guilty on two counts of first-degree unlawful sexual penetration.

An update from the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office said that on Tuesday, June 20, Circuit Court Judge Andrew Lavin sentenced Sperou to 160 months—or 13 years and four months, in state prison.

Two of Sperou’s seven survivors are the daughters of Ken Garrett, a former guest sobre el TRR podcast. Garrett is a pastor at Grace Church in Portland, Ore., and in his book In the House of Friends, he discusses the abuses he and his family endured during their 12 years at NCBC.

Garrett and the prosecutors referred to NCBC as a cult due to its abusive and controlling culture, including communal living. Its core members share a network of rental homes that straddle the Happy Valley and Portland city limits. Sunday services, Bible studies, and language classes are all held in people’s homes.

Former members told The Oregonian that Sperou had complete control over the food members ate, drank heavily, used drugs, and took up to 25% of their earnings as a church tax.

NCBC still lists Sperou as their Senior Pastor. TRR reached out to NCBC but has not received a reply.

Garret told TRR that he was amazed that Sperou still had devoted supporters. About 20 of Sperou’s followers attended his trial last May.

Garrett said he felt bad for them because he personally knew the burden of supporting Sperou.

“If they came to terms and left, they would lose their home, car, all of their friends . . . they would have nothing,” he said. “I believe they assume they would be treated badly by those who left. Nothing could be further—we would love to help and support them while they adjusted.”

One of Garrett’s daughters, Bryn Courtright, told TRR she was grateful for the opportunity to confront Sperou in her impact statement. She said in her statement that she understood that due to the statute of limitations at the time, Sperou would never be held accountable for his crimes against her, but she still wanted to speak out about what she went through.

“No more access to little girls for you. No more greasing up to sunbathe with women thirty years younger than you. No more ‘Mike, the preacher.’ No more ‘Mike, the pastor.’ No more ‘Mike, the pampered prophet.’ Now you’re just ‘Mike, the pedophile,'” it read.

Courtright told TRR that reading her impact statement aloud “was probably the most cathartic and empowering moment for me throughout this whole ordeal.”

Sperou is not eligible for parole but will be able to reduce the sentence for good behavior.

Garrett told TRR on Wednesday that he and his family were still recovering from the news.

“As in the past, Sperou’s victims decimated his lawyers’ arguments and left this sick man even more exposed than the last time they told their stories in court,” he said.

“All the way to the bitter end, handcuffed, in a prison jumpsuit, unrepentant, unaffected, dismissive of his victims, and continuing to extract the resources, emotional reserves, and the whole lives of his few remaining followers, who reached out their hands in affection and love to him as the court deputies led him out of the courtroom and back to jail for a night, and then to state prison today.”

Garrett said Sperou’s defense lawyer promised a vigorous appeal of the sentence. But Garrett said Sperou’s victims are also “ready to return at a moment’s notice.”

Click below to listen to two podcast episodes related to this story.

Jessica Eturralde es una esposa militar de 18 años y madre de tres hijos que se desempeña como escritora independiente, presentadora de televisión y cineasta. Las firmas incluyen Yahoo, Huffington Post, OC16TV.