TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – A Tallahassee man accused of assaulting five boys over the past 15 years is standing trial this week in one of those cases.
Terrance Booker, 41, served as a youth minister at his church and worked at an after-school program at a local elementary school until his arrest in August 2025.
Terrance Booker’s mugshot.(Leon County Sheriff’s Office)
Booker is now on trial on charges of lewd and lascivious conduct and sexual battery on a child under 16. The alleged abuse took place between 2010 and 2015.
“He planned to take this to his grave,” prosecutor Sarah Dugan said of the victim in her opening statements to the jury Thursday morning.
Dugan said the young man stepped forward after hearing about Booker’s 2025 arrest and the other molestation allegations against him.
“He felt sick,” she said, that Booker “had the opportunity to do it again to someone else.”
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The young man took the stand Thursday morning, but everyone except his family was cleared from the courtroom during his testimony.
“Listen to the stories they tell,” defense attorney Mutaqee Akbar told the jury in his opening statement. “The devil is in the details,” he said. Akbar told the jury that if the details change, that means they may not be true.
“These are very, very serious allegations,“ Akbar said. He contends Booker did not have the opportunity to commit the crimes of which he’s accused.
Court records show if Booker is convicted of sexual battery, he could face up to life in prison.
Last week, the judge granted a motion to sever, meaning Booker will stand trial for allegations involving one victim this week and the other cases will be tried separately at a later date.
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