Juvenile advocate guilty in child sex assault

MOBILE, Ala. — An employee of the juvenile court’s Youth Advocacy Program has been found guilty of sodomizing two teenage girls.

Sherman Tate appeared in court Thursday and was acquitted of a rape charge. Both girls were students at Mobile’s Point Academy, a school for troubled youth, when the assaults occurred in 2010. The girls testified that 38-year-old Tate had assaulted them on several occasions.

Tate took the stand in his defense, claiming his own troubled past was a factor in his efforts to work with teens. The prosecutor said the availability of victims was too much temptation.

Tate was sentenced to an eight-and-a-half year prison term. He will be required to register as a sex offender.