Former pastor, James Richard Harris performed a fake suicide attempt in a Florida courtroom after being convicted of sexual abuse against teenagers. After being informed that he would be held in police custody until his October 5 sentencing, Harris grabbed a glass of water and quickly swallowed several white pills.
Harris was immediately wheeled out of the courtroom on a stretcher, reportedly in a semi-conscious state, and placed on suicide watch in a Palm Springs, Florida jail. Toxicology reports later showed Harris swallowed breath mints. “My initial reaction was the same as the one I had at the time this happened: Nothing this man does surprises me, prosecutor Chrichet Mixon told News Channel 5.
64-year-old, Harris is facing up to 80 years in prison after videotaping a 15-year-old boy masturbating and a 14-year-old girl and 16-year-old boy engaged in sexual intercourse. “It just goes to show that he always has an ulterior motive.”He clearly had an ulterior motive when he befriended those children, and he had a motive for doing what he did in the courtroom,” said Mixon.