45 years later, 'Uncle Raggy,' ex-youth minister, indicted in sexual abuse case
A former youth minister has been indicted on a sexual abuse charge stemming from an alleged incident that took place nearly 45 years ago. Dural Reece Ragsdale, 71, known as "Uncle Raggy" on his now shuttered YouTube channel, turned himself in to the Tishomingo County Jail Monday afternoon. He was charged with fondling, a felony.
Ragsdale was indicted by a Tishomingo grand jury last month.
District Attorney John Weddle said, according to the indictment, the abuse occurred sometime between Jan. 1, 1974, and Dec. 31, 1975. The victim was under the age of 14 at the time.
During that time frame, Ragsdale was a youth minister at Iuka United Methodist Church in Iuka.
Weddle said it was unusual to have a case dating back 40 years. But, he said, the range given for the estimated time of abuse is "not uncommon" for a case that old.
"It's very difficult for an adult who was a child when it happened to be able to pinpoint the exact date," he said.
The charge does not fall under the statute of limitations, Weddle said, citing Mississippi code 99-1-5 that states the "passage of time" does not bar prosecution against sexual battery of a child.
"There are some cases where the statue of limitation doesn't bar prosecution and this would be one of them," he said.
"Just because you have a case that old, our office is not making any judgment about the validity or invalidity," Weddle said. "We've got a grand jury that felt like there was enough to go forward so that's what we're doing...it will get put on the trial docket pretty soon and we'll try to fig...
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