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WESTON, W.Va. (WBOY) – A former minister and his wife have been charged after victims revealed more than 60 cases of sexual abuse and assault in Lewis County that occurred more than two decades ago.

According to criminal complaints filed Nov. 18 in Lewis County, John Radcliff, 57, of Nettie, sexually abused and assaulted at least five juvenile victims dozens of times between 1987 and 2003.

Troopers from the Weston Detachment of the West Virginia State Police began investigating Radcliff on October 28 after he was arrested in September on sex abuse charges in Nicholas County and troopers learned there may be additional victims in Lewis County.

Interviews with five of these victims took place between September 16 and November 17 in Lewis County, according to five separate criminal complaints against Radcliff.

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One victim said Radcliff’s abuse began when she was 3 years old, according to a complaint. She recalled an instance when she was eight years old and Radcliff placed her hand on his genitals while she was sitting in his car and “began to ‘teach’ her how to stimulate a man,” according to the complaint. The victim’s statement said Radcliff then “cleaned himself up and threw the trash out the window and they returned to his house as if nothing had happened.”

In another case, when the victim was approximately 10-12 years old, John Radcliff and his wife Kathy Radcliff, 52 of Nettie, asked the victim and another child to watch a “porn movie” with them and then allegedly engaged in sexual performed actions while the There were children in the room, the complaint said.

According to the complaint, the victim said that “she was 110% certain that Mrs. Radcliff was aware of everything Mr. Radcliff was doing” and that she believed Kathy was “helping cover for her husband.”

A second victim said in statements to police that John sexually assaulted her three times, starting when she was 4 years old, according to another complaint. He allegedly forced the victim to touch his genitals and perform oral sex on him at home and in his car.

A third victim said John began sexually abusing her when she was in elementary school and recalled instances of abuse that occurred in both Lewis County and Harrison County where “he made her touch her and touch his penis” and also performed oral sex. according to a third complaint.

A fourth victim said she was abused by John Radcliff between the ages of 3 and 11 and recalled several incidents of abuse that occurred in Lewis and Braxton counties, including one in which she was bathed by Kathy as a young child and John “came over and was tried to put his penis in her mouth three times,” according to a fourth complaint.

In another instance, when the victim was 11, John put her hand on his genitals while they were in his car, and she pulled away from him several times, “grabbing the door handle and holding it as tight as she could so he wouldn’t could move.” don’t pull her anymore,” the complaint said. Afterwards, the victim said John “stopped at a convenience store and said let’s go in and get you a treat” and then “bought her a slushy and he told you to drink that before we got there because he the other children had not bought. nothing,” the complaint said.

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A fifth victim said during interviews with law enforcement that incidents of sexual assault “happened so frequently that she was unsure on a number of occasions”; According to the complaint, the victim was between the ages of 4 and 14 when the assaults occurred.

“These are just a few of the many revelations from multiple victims of a massive, multi-county investigation,” troopers said.

Court documents said the victims “all came forward in 2004, but there was never any finding in this investigation.” One victim said during interviews that “When everything came out, (Kathy) called her and apologized for everything and told her she believed her,” troopers said.

The documents also stated that John Radcliff “was a pastor and headed a youth ministry” and was either “related to or viewed as a father figure” to the five minor victims. One of the victims also said that “she knows there were more victims, but cannot remember their names” and said “there were at least thirteen others,” according to court documents.

John Radcliff has been charged in Lewis County with the following charges:

• 26 cases of sexual abuse

• 35 cases of sexual abuse

• 1 count of showing obscene material to a minor

According to the complaints filed in Lewis County, additional charges have also been filed in Braxton and Harrison counties, but 12 News was unable to obtain these criminal complaints due to a The West Virginia law addressed the release of information about sex crimes. John was arrested Tuesday at the Central Regional Jail and is being held on $1.7 million bail. He was too charged with eight felonies in Nicholas County in September 2024.

Kathy Radcliff has been charged with showing obscene material to a minor. She was also arrested Tuesday at the Central Regional Jail and is being held on $75,000 bail.

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