Church elder sentenced to 10 years in prison

INDIANAPOLIS – A former church elder who pleaded guilty to child molestation charges has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.\nTerry Van Gorp, 59, offered a brief apology to the victim’s family but showed no remorse for his actions, said Hamilton Superior Court Judge Steve Nation.\nVan Gorp was arrested in June 2006 after he told family and other church members that he had molested the girl, now five years old, at his home in February 2006. Van Gorp pleaded guilty to a felony charge of child molesting, and two other felony charges were dropped in the plea deal.\nNation sentenced Van Gorp to 15 years, with 10 served in prison and five on probation. After being released from prison, Van Gorp will have to register as a sex offender and complete a court-approved sex offender treatment program. He will not be allowed to contact the victim, travel alone after 10 p.m. or use a computer with Internet access without permission from his probation officer.\nNation said those precautions will keep other children safe, but the victim’s family members still have concerns.\n“He deserves so much more (time in prison),” the victim’s father said. “But we didn’t want to have to put (the victim) through testifying in front of him again, when she had nightmares after the first time.”\nVan Gorp was an elder at College Park Church in Carmel, Ind. The victim’s family has since left the congregation.