San Diego

A Superior Court jury Friday convicted a former Boy Scout leader of 12 felony counts of molesting a 14-year-old boy.

Rodney Fred Stark, 41, of Rancho Penasquitos, was taken into custody immediately after the verdict was read. He faces up to 22 years in state prison when he is sentenced Aug. 31.

The 10-woman, two-man jury deliberated for one day before reaching its decision. In addition to the guilty decisions on four counts of oral copulation and eight counts of fondling a child, the jury found that Stark occupied a special position of trust, which makes him ineligible for probation.

Stark has been on leave from positions at Black Mountain Middle School and in the Boy Scouts since his arrest in March.

During the trial, the jury heard a secretly recorded phone conversation between Stark and the boy in which the victim told Stark he was considering leaving the Boy Scouts because of Stark’s sexual conduct. Stark tried to reassure the boy by telling him, “It won’t happen anymore.”

The boy testified that Stark molested him during five camping trips, but that there were other instances of abuse that he could not remember as well.

Two other boys, whom prosecutors discovered after the beginning of the trial, testified that they also were molested by Stark. One boy, who testified Wednesday, said Stark molested him about 25 times, about half of the incidents occurring at Stark’s home.