JUDGE orders man to stand trial

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ A Tulsa County judge has ordered a man to stand trial Nov. 5 for allegedly engaging in sex acts with young followers of his religious group. <br><br>Prosecutors have charged Jermol

Friday, June 1st 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ A Tulsa County judge has ordered a man to stand trial Nov. 5 for allegedly engaging in sex acts with young followers of his religious group.

Prosecutors have charged Jermol Gentry with 13 counts in separate cases involving two boys, who are now 15.

Gentry, 24, is charged with nine counts of lewd molestation, two counts of first-degree rape, one count of forcible sodomy and one count of animal cruelty. One of the cases involves 10 of the charges and will likely be tried first in District Judge Jesse Harris' courtroom, prosecutors said.

In that case, a 10th-grade boy said he was introduced last year to Gentry, who told him about ``a group of angels'' and ``training to prepare for the end of the world.''

The training involved fighting, talking and sexual acts, including a 2 1/2-minute ``test'' in which Gentry rubbed the boy's groin to see how he would react, the boy said.

``I don't think there is any way to pass or fail,'' he testified at Gentry's preliminary hearing.

Training also included a punishment, or ``consequence,'' in which Gentry engaged in anal sex with him, he said.

The boy said Gentry engaged in four different types of sex acts with him on numerous occasions.

Tulsa Police Detective Rodney Russo testified that when he questioned Gentry, the defendant indicated that he had engaged in oral sex with that youth ``more than 90 times.''