Marvin E. (B.J.) Parrish

A Middlebourne man who was convicted on sexual abuse charges in 2005 is asking the court for a second chance.

Represented by Attorney Roger Weese, Marvin E. (B.J.) Parrish, 51, appeared before Judge Mark A. Karl Thursday in the Tyler County Circuit Court to request a sentence reduction or even the possibility of probation. Parrish is currently serving two consecutive 10- to 20-year terms in the Mount Olive Correctional Center for sexually abusing a female juvenile.

Weese, a former teacher of Parrish, not only spoke as his attorney, but also as someone with firsthand knowledge of the defendant as well as the incident.

“As a teacher, I like to take pride when my students do well and I kind of felt a sense of failure when I found out what B.J. had become involved in. B.J. made a terrible mistake,” said Weese.

Weese described Parrish as an honest and hardworking man who had done well with his life prior to the incident. Married with three children, Parrish served almost 25 years on the Middlebourne Fire and Emergency Squad and served three years in the Army Reserves.

“I was shocked to hear what he had done, but I wasn’t shocked that he admitted his wrongdoing and did a full confession in his very first interview. He accepted the full responsibility for his actions and he accepted the punishment the state determined was appropriate. He didn’t force the state to prove anything, your honor, and he saved the victim from having to testify,” Weese said.

Parrish’s mother, Evora Reed, and his youngest daughter were also in appearance to urge the court to consider his release.

Karl expressed his disdain for revisiting or reconsidering any of his judgments, but he is going to take the request under advisement. Treating each case individually, Karl is going to go back over the details and make his final decision on April 17.

If Parrish’s sentence is not modified, he will not be eligible for parole until 2025.

In another case, Telma M. Morgan, 49, of Route 2 Box 246 A, New Martinsville, pleaded guilty to grand larceny. On Jan. 7, Morgan stole a 1996 Ford F-150 pickup truck valued at $2,000. Morgan was sentenced to serve 11 days in the North Central Regional Jail and ordered to pay the cost of prosecution.

The following cases were continued until April 17 at 1:15 p.m.

-Zachary Boor, 23, of 187 North State Route 2 Apartment C, New Martinsville, is appearing for a probation violation.

-Daniel S. Finley, 25, of 201 Dodd St. Lot 4, Middlebourne, is charged with sexual assault in the third degree.

-Kae L. Cornell, 40, of 42 South Third Avenue, Paden City, is charged with five counts of uttering.

-Dwayne Ueltschey, 34, of 40031 State Route 26, Woodsfield, Ohio, is charged with seven counts of forgery and two counts of uttering.

-Curtis Lemasters, 27, of North Second Avenue, Paden City, is charged with third offense or subsequent offense of driving while his license was revoked for driving under the influence of alcohol and second offense driving under the influence.