NATION : Heir Gets Prison for Molestation
The heir to a textile fortune was sentenced today to 150 days in prison and five years probation for molesting two youngsters at a Blue Ridge Mountains summer camp for rich kids.
John Yorke Pharr III, grandson of a founder of Stowe-Pharr textile mills, was sentenced to five years in prison, suspended on the condition that he serve 150 days in state prison followed by five years of supervised probation.
Pharr, 41, continued to insist he is innocent of charges that he took indecent liberties with minors attending Camp Falling Creek, a summer camp for privileged children that Pharr owned in Tuxedo, N.C.
Four children testified against Pharr during his trial, each telling nearly identical accounts of being taken on skinny dipping outings and then invited to share his sleeping bag, during which they said the molestations occurred.
Pharr said he shared his sleeping bag with the youngsters, who were each 10 years old, because they were homesick.
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