Georgia Child Psychologist Kenneth McPherson Gets Five Years Prison for Child Molestations

March 3, 2022

After more than a decade since he was indicted on child molestation and sexual exploitation charges, former child psychologist Kenneth McPherson was sentenced to prison Tuesday.

Judge John Flythe accepted McPherson's plea deal to plead guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor. He was sentenced to five years in prison, followed by 10 years' probation and must register as a sex offender once released from prison.

McPherson was named in two indictments accusing him of committing acts of child molestation in 2005, 2008, 2010 and 2011. He was arrested in March 2011 and charged with five counts of child molestation and one count of sexual exploitation of a minor in one indictment and two counts of child molestation on the second indictment.

As part of the plea deal, none of the child molestation charges will be prosecuted. McPherson received his license to practice psychology in 1990 but has not practiced his profession since his arrest in 2011 and has been free on a $200,000 bond since 2011.

He was arrested after an 8-year-old patient told Richmond County authorities McPherson had exposed himself during a session, The Augusta Chronicle reported. The boy told authorities McPherson had a book with photos of naked children. Authorities obtained a search warrant to go into McPherson's office and were able to find enough evidence to corroborate the boy's story but not the book of photos.

Following McPherson's arrest in 2011, investigators looked at allegations made against him in 2005, which at the time didn't result in charges because of lack of evidence, The Chronicle reported.

Assistant District Attorney Deshala Dixon told Judge Flythe that investigators had gone to McPherson's office back in 2011 and had found several items including a camera card that contained a picture of a child patient of his, who was naked. Dixon said the DA's office stood by the plea deal because "there will finally be closure" to the case after 12 years.

Dixon said, over time, important details might have been lost that could impact the case. If it would have gone to trial, like it was scheduled to next week, the victims would have to relive the sexual assault during the trial and be worried that McPherson might not be convicted, Dixon said.

Victims and parents of the victims allegedly molested by McPherson testified in court Tuesday, however, and expressed their dissatisfaction with the plea deal. The children, who were under 10 years old when allegedly molested by McPherson, are now grown but said they continue to struggle with mental health issues and have problems trusting others.

One parent told Flythe he didn't feel five years in prison was enough, while another parent didn't agree with the plea deal and she felt it wasn't enough justice for the victims. She said the ball was dropped when the case was originally indicted in 2011 and now this is all closure and justice they will get.

A third parent asked the case to be moved to a different judicial circuit because she felt the Augusta DA's office had not done its job to make sure McPherson was convicted and faced further punishment.

McPherson's lawyers, Jason Sheffield and Kirk Gilliard, asked Flythe to accept the plea deal and said McPherson would not contest any of the testimony given by the victims and their families. Gilliard said he had been involved in the case since 2011 and said a lot of people had supported McPherson since the allegations first came to light.

About a dozen people were present in the courtroom in support of McPherson. Gillian said the plea deal was a "fair and accurate resolution of this case." Following the hearing, McPherson was taken to prison.

Source: Jozsef Papp, “Child psychologist sentenced to prison in decade-long sexual exploitation case,” The Augusta Chronicle, Mar. 2, 2022, URL: https://sports.yahoo.com/child-psychologist-sentenced-prison-decade-110312649.html