A Criminal Court jury today continues to deliberate a verdict in the aggravated statutory rape trial of the 28-year-old son of a local pastor.
Assistant District Attorney Bret Alexander and defense attorneys Bill Speek and Gerald Webb finished their closing arguments at 3:30 p.m. Thursday. The jury deliberated until 6 p.m. and decided to reconvene this morning.
Ronnie Powe Jr. could be sentenced to two to four years in state prison if convicted of the charge that he masturbated and briefly performed oral sex on a 15-year-old boy on Feb. 15.
Powe is the son of Ronnie Powe Sr., the pastor of Chattanooga’s United Tabernacle Church of God in Christ.
Since the beginning of the trial Tuesday, Speek and Webb have focused on one word in the indictment – knowingly.