A former Cub Scout leader arrested more than six years ago is set to spend his remaining years behind bars after being convicted of more than 30 counts of molesting children.
Harry Brett Taylor, of Lawrenceville, was ordered to prison for life on Thursday after being convicted in Gwinnett Superior Court. Channel 2 Action News reported that Chief Judge Melodie Conner ordered life sentences on three of the counts and 10 to 15 years for each of the other 20-plus counts.
Taylor, a former Gwinnett library board member, was initially arrested in July 2008 after police said he had fondled a boy during a sleepover and had photographed him drying off and undressing after swimming in Taylor's pool. The sleepover at Taylor's home was not affiliated with the Cub Scouts, but the boy knew Taylor because he was his Cub Scout den leader, police previously said.
More than a dozen other youths later came forward, alleging that Taylor had inappropriate sexual contact with them, made them undress in front of him, or photographed them naked. Prosecutors said about 1,000 photographs involving alleged victims were found when police seized and searched cameras, computers and photographic equipment from Taylor's home.
The pictures were alleged to depict naked boys and girls, as well as Taylor molesting a young boy, and a boy with a gas mask over his face, according to court records.
Taylor also once served on the steering committee for Leadership Gwinnett, a Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce leadership development program.
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