In the past 20 years, hundreds of Southern Baptists with formal church roles have engaged in sexual misconduct, a new investigation by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News reveals. They were pastors. Deacons. Youth pastors.

So? Here are 20 more disgusting, degenerate pedophile Christian perverts of the Southern Baptist Convention of Pedophile Pervert Churches.

1 Marshal A. Seymour Church Position: Volunteer youth minister
Court of Conviction: Polk County, 2009
Outcome: Registered sex offender in Florida. As part of a plea agreement, convicted of three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor and one charge of directing sexual performance of a child. Sentenced to maximum of 10 years on each count. Released in 2016.
A prominent Southern Baptist church in Florida once picketed by homosexual groups for its opposition to gay marriage is now in headlines for the arrest of a volunteer youth minister accused of sexually abusing teenage boys he met through the church.
Pastor Jay Dennis called the arrest of 40-year-old Marshal Seymour a “Category 5 storm” for First Baptist Church at the Mall in Lakeland, Fla., the Lakeland Ledger reported.
According to his arrest report, Seymour is accused of sexually abusing three boys ages 15-17 at the time of the alleged acts.
The arrest followed a two-week investigation that began when the oldest of the three, who is now over 18, came to police saying he didn’t want any more youth to be victimized.
Church officials said they ran two background checks on Seymour before allowing him to volunteer for the church’s student ministry in 1999, but they came back clean.
But Seymour in fact had a criminal record. Police in Mobile, Ala., arrested him July 1, 1999, on charges of second-degree sodomy and second-degree sexual abuse of a 16-year-old boy, while working as a youth minister at Parkway Assembly of God.
The sodomy charge was dropped, and Seymour pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault in lieu of the sexual-abuse charge. His one-year jail sentence was suspended and he was put on probation for a year.
“He did exactly what he did here in Mobile, Alabama,” Sgt. Gary Gross of the Lakeland Police Department told the Lakeland Ledger. “Sexual predators tend to be wanderers. They move from one location to another.”
In 1999, Seymour moved to Lakeland and began volunteering at the First Baptist Church at the Mall, an 8,000-member church that sits on 32 acres at a 400,000 square-foot former shopping mall that it purchased in 1998 for $8.6 million.
Seymour turned himself in to police late Friday night. Police allege he met victims through First Baptist Church at the Mall and often paid them money in exchange for sexual favors or to keep quiet about sexual encounters after they occurred.
Seymour faces charges of unlawful sexual activity and three counts of using a child in sexual performance. He was also charged with tampering with or fabricating physical evidence for allegedly trying to bribe a clerk at a hotel where one of the incidents is believed to have occurred to remove his name from a computer register.
The church’s pastor told media Seymour, who is married, was a popular church member and no one had any reason to suspect him of inappropriate behavior. Dennis said his own son worked at Seymour’s company that services fire-safety equipment.
On Sunday Dennis told church members: “The church has also been harmed by this situation. This is a Category 5 storm for us. Our church is a great church, but today we mourn the fact that innocent people have been profoundly wounded.”First Baptist Church at the Mall is one of the highest-profile Southern Baptist churches hit in recent months with scandals over alleged sexual abuse by ministers.

News Story http://www.ethicsdaily.com/sexual-abuse-scandal-hits-prominent-southern-baptist-church-in-florida-cms-11853/
Sex Offender Record https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4895862-Seymour-MARSHAL-AFlorida-Sexual-Offender.html
Police/Court Record https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4883644-FL-Seymour-MarshalAFlreleasedinmates.html

2 John Wayne Diehl Church Position: Associate Pastor
Court of Conviction: Kenton County, 2010
Outcome: Convicted of four sodomy charges in 2010 for offenses involving 17- and 15-year-old victims, according to a West Virginia sex offender registry. Served approximately eight years. Paroled.
A former minister in Northern Kentucky has been charged with incest.
John Wayne Diehl was the Associate Pastor of Administration at Piner Baptist Church in Morningview from 2004 until a week and a half ago.

From the link from Stop Baptist Predators
http://stopbaptistpredators.org/article10/john_wayne_diehl.html

A former associate pastor at a Kenton County church is in jail on a child sex charge.
Diehl had been on staff at Piner Baptist Church in Morning View since October 2004, most recently as Associate Pastor of Administration.
Apparently, a church member told a youth minister about the alleged sex abuse.
Residents said they find it hard to believe an associate pastor is charged with sex crimes against a minor, especially since they say he’d also cared for youth at a children’s home.
On a cached copy of the church’s Web site, Diehl is described as being married with three children and has made mission trips to Africa in the past.

News Story https://www.fox19.com/story/11880582/former-minister-charged-with-incest/
Sex Offender Record https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5191363-KYDiehl-JohnWayne-sofWV.html

3 Joseph Niemeyer Church Position: Youth pastor
Court of Conviction: Kenton County, 2018
Outcome: Convicted of sodomy and sexual abuse, involving a victim 12 or under. Serving a 20-year sentence in Kentucky.
A former northern Kentucky pastor will spend the next 20 years behind bars after prosecutors say he raped a child he was caring for.
Joseph Niemeyer, 56, appeared in court Tuesday for sentencing on three counts of felony sexual abuse, rape, and sodomy.
“When she went into the defendants custody. She went into his custody because she was looking for a safe home to live in. In the 4 years she was in his custody. He sodomized her, raped her and sexual abused her. This was a child that was 5-years-old.” said Lawrence Hilton, Assistant Commonwealth Attorney.
Niemeyer pleaded guilty on Nov. 20 to four counts of first-degree sexual abuse and one count first-degree sodomy against the girl.
Under the plea agreement, Niemeyer will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and must serve 17 years before being parole eligible, according to Kenton County Prosecutor Rob Sanders.
Niemeyer worked with youth at the Banklick Baptist Church in Walton until he was arrested in February 2016. He also volunteered at Twenhofel Middle School.
Police say they were alerted to the abuse after Niemeyer came forward last year and reported himself to officers.

News Story https://www.fox19.com/story/37236788/former-youth-pastor-sentenced-for-child-sexual-abuse-charges/
Police/Court Record https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4910874-KY-Niemeyer-Josephdoc.html

4 Brandon James Carter Church Position: Youth pastor
Court of Conviction: Lincoln County, 2013
Outcome: Registered sex offender in North Carolina who was convicted of kidnapping against a minor and sentenced to three years.
A man who once served as a youth pastor and worked as a teacher pleaded guilty to a sex offense against a child.
Brandon James Carter accepted a plea arrangement Wednesday, admitting to taking indecent liberties with a child and kidnapping.
Carter was arrested in March 2012. At the time he was serving as youth and music minister at Mount Zion Baptist Church in Cherryville. The allegations against Carter were separate from the church, but he was asked to resign after his arrest.
The offense happened at a Lincoln County residence on Aug. 2, 2004.
The girl was 13 at the time. According to the teen, she was asleep on the couch and woke up to Carter fondling her. When Carter realized the girl was awake and in pain, he stopped and walked out of the room, Assistant District Attorney Mica Sanderson told the court.
The girl documented the incident in her journal and left it out for her mother to see. The family attempted to deal with the problem without reporting Carter to the police. Now married and 21-years-old, the woman said she had to come forward.
She tearfully told Superior Court Judge Forrest Bridges that she wanted to protect other teens.
“He’s not got help, truly. He still puts himself in situations like music director and youth director,” she said tearfully. “I just want him to get help.”
Carter was originally charged with statutory rape and taking indecent liberties with a child. He was offered a plea agreement that dismissed the statutory rape offense but added kidnapping. According to Sanderson, if a child is held against her will even for a brief time, it constitutes kidnapping when a parent has not given consent.
He was sentenced to less than two years in prison. Once released, Carver will be on probation for nearly three years and be added to the Sex Offender Registry for 30 years.

News Story http://www.gastongazette.com/20130109/former-youth-pastor-guilty-of-child-sex-crime/301099936
Sex Offender Record https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4918293-NC-Carter-Brandonsof.html

5 Jacob Allen Conder Church Position: Youth minister
Court of Conviction: Daviess County, 2017
Outcome: Convicted of distribution and possession of material portraying sexual performance by a minor. Serving a nine-year sentence. Registered sex offender.
A former youth minister already convicted of sex abuse has pleaded guilty to four more counts.
Jacob Allen Conder was scheduled to go to trial Tuesday in Daviess Circuit Court on the four felony charges, but the Messenger-Inquirer reports that he entered a guilty plea Friday. Under terms of the plea, he would serve three years concurrently with a one-year sentence he received in December for a similar charge in Letcher County.
Conder was a deputy constable and a youth director at Wing Avenue Baptist Church in Owensboro when the allegations were made.
The Daviess charges stem from a sleep-over at the church. A 15-year-old girl accused Conder of touching her inappropriately, which led to two other girls coming forward with similar charges.
The previous charges stem from allegations during a mission trip to Letcher County.

News Story https://www.kentuckynewera.com/web/news/article_e914022e-290d-11e0-9698-001cc4c03286.html
Sex Offender Record https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5634440-KY-ConderJacobsexoffender.html
Police/Court Report https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4941416-KY-JacobAllenConder-Inmatedata.html

6 Billy Ray Smith Church Position: Volunteer youth worker
Court of Conviction: Bryan County, 2010
Outcome: Convicted of forcible sodomy in 2010. Serving a 15-year-sentence in Oklahoma state prison.
A local church is reacting to allegations of sexual abuse against one of their parishioners. Deeda Payton reports.
OSBI agents arrested Billy Ray Smith last Wednesday on charges of second degree rape and two counts of sodomy. In December, Durant Police arrested Smith on multiple counts of forcible sodomy from incidents that allegedly happened between Smith and a minor child in Durant. In addition to his teaching duties, Smith also served as a youth worker at the Calvary Baptist Church in Durant for several decades.
The pastor wants to clarify that although Smith has been a member for about thirty years, that he was never a paid youth minister. He was just a volunteer, what they call a youth worker. He says the church is praying for Smith, and the family that reported the alleged incident.
The pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Durant, Darel Bunch, says he has received several calls from concerned parishioners since Billy Smith’s arrest. Pastor Bunch wants to make it clear that Smith was never a paid employee of the church or a youth minister. He says Smith was a volunteer, and he acted as a youth worker at the church right up until his arrest, but pastor bunch says they never suspected him for sexual abuse. “Bill had been a member here for 30 years. We’d never had any indication of any wrongdoing before and again these allegations were a shock to us,” said Bunch.
Pastor Bunch says thirty years ago when Smith volunteered to help with the youth activities, the church was happy to have the help. He says Smith’s relationship with the children and teens seemed to be good, but now Calvary Baptist is in the process of implementing background checks of volunteers and staff members.

News Story http://www.kten.com/Global/story.asp?S=12146234
Police/Court Record https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4918311-OK-Smith-BillyRaydoc.html

7 Dustin Ray Werneburg Church Position: Youth pastor
Court of Conviction: Coal County, 2012
Outcome: Convicted of rape and two counts of lewd and indecent acts or propositions to a child in 2012. Sentenced to 10 years in prison, plus a 30-year suspended sentence. Incarcerated in Oklahoma.
A former Coalgate youth pastor will spend the next 10 years in prison for sex crimes against a young girl. 28-year-old Dustin Werneburg pleaded guilty Thursday to two of the eight charges against him in a plea deal with prosecutors.
Police arrested Werneburg last November in Blanchard, Oklahoma, where he was working as a teacher’s aide. He resigned last August as the youth pastor at First Baptist Church in Coalgate when a parent came forward, and police began looking into inappropriate text messages he had exchanged with a female youth group member.
Werneburg also received a 30 year suspended sentence if he violates parole when he is released.

News Story https://www.kxii.com/home/headlines/Former-Coalgate-youth-pastor-gets-10-years-in-plea-deal-189437781.html
Police/Court Record https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4918300-OK-Werneburg-DustinRaydoc.html

8 Alexander Lawrence Edwards Church Position: Volunteer Youth minister
Court of Conviction: Lee County, 2017
Outcome: Convicted of two counts of sexual battery against a child under 16 in 2017 in Cobb County. Ordered to serve three years in prison with credit for time served on Aug. 18, 2017. Registered sex offender in Georgia
The lead pastor at Eastside Baptist Church said he and other church leaders are re-examining its hiring practices after a man who volunteered as a youth minister for most of 2015 was arrested and charged with child molestation last month.
John Hull, who took over as lead pastor Jan.1, said he is familiar with the case of Alexander Edwards, who was arrested in his home in Lee County near Albany on April 14. However, Hull said he did not know Edwards, who police say volunteered with the church from January to November 2015.
Hull said he has asked the church’s personnel committee and other leaders to find out how Edwards was allowed to work at the church.
“We need to find out what happened, we need to find out how Alexander was brought into the organization. We need to then ensure and make sure that parents of our church and school and community understand that Eastside is doing everything it can to make sure it never happens again,” Hull said.
Hull said the church has also reached out to the family of the child Edwards is alleged to have molested.
According to a warrant for his arrest filed April 13, Edwards went into an 11-year-old boy’s Marietta bedroom several times over a one- to two-month period earlier this year while the child’s parents were asleep, where the alleged molestation occurred.

GA church hires youth pastor accused of child sexual abuse — only to have him allegedly do it again
https://www.rawstory.com/2016/06/ga-church-hires-youth-pastor-accused-of-child-sexual-abuse-only-to-have-him-allegedly-do-it-again/

Questions are being raised in Marietta, Georgia, as to how a man charged with sexually abusing a child when he worked as a youth pastor in 2013 could be hired as a youth pastor this year, in a position where he is again accused of sexual abuse, 11Alive reports.

Alexander Edwards has been charged in two cases, one from 2013 and one from this year.
He worked as a youth pastor at Providence Baptist Church in downstate Leesburg, where he was charged with two felony counts for making sexual advances on a 13-year-old boy in 2013.
Yet the case wasn’t prosecuted at the time, and Edwards was hired by another church as a youth pastor, this time at Cobb County’s Eastside Baptist Church, 11Alive reports. This despite a $5,000 bond with limitations requiring that he not have any contact with children under 18 years old.
He was arrested in April on suspicion of molesting an 11 year old in Cobb County.
His charges remained pending for three years, allowing him to remain free on bond. But prosecutors in both counties are now moving forward with charges against Edwards. He is again free on bond, awaiting trial, but now wears an ankle monitor and is on house arrest.

News Story https://www.mdjonline.com/news/church-pastor-responds-to-alleged-child-molester-working-at-church/article_7637bed6-1fa6-11e6-8ed1-1766fb0aed51.html
Sex Offender Record https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5629071-GA-Edwards-Alexandersof.html

9 Jonathan Bailey Church Position: Youth minister
Court of Conviction: Orleans Parish, 2016
Outcome: Convicted of 12 felonies, including molestation of a juvenile, indecent behavior with a juvenile and obstruction. Serving a 10-year sentence in Louisiana state prison, according to a prison spokesman.
Bailey pleaded guilty to six counts of molestation, five counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile and one count of obstruction of justice. Though he was sentenced to 27 years total, the plea agreement allows him to serve the sentences at the same time, meaning he will serve a total of 10 years in prison. He must also register as a sex offender, Orleans Criminal District Court Judge Robin Pittman noted.
Bailey’s indictment says the sexual abuse occurred between July 1, 2014, and Feb. 8, 2015, at locations including the Lakeview church at 5290 Canal Blvd. A police report says the abuse also occurred during a retreat in Mississippi. The victim’s father said Bailey is facing additional charges in Mississippi, which contributed to their eagerness to resolve the case in Louisiana.
The allegations surfaced a month after the victim’s 14th birthday when church officials said they saw surveillance video showing the girl and the youth minister slipping into a closet together during a Feb. 8 church function. Senior pastor David Crosby said he notified the girl’s parents and New Orleans police and fired Bailey the next day.
The report says Bailey, who was married at the time of the abuse, communicated with the girl via text messages and directed her to erase them.
The victim said in her statement she missed school, lost a best friend in the fallout of the abuse. She said the ordeal has put her family under stress and impacted all of the youth at her church.
She said in the statement that Bailey chose scripture and skewed its meaning to justify his actions, and “led me to believe it was OK to cross boundaries I had grown up learning” were wrong to cross.
During the investigation, the victim told officials Bailey lavished the child with attention, gifts and promises of a future together.
According to reports, much of the abuse occurred at the church in New Orleans in 2015 until Bailey took a youth group on a retreat to the Seashore United Methodist Retreat Center here in Biloxi. Prior to this trip, Bailey told the victim to come to his room after everyone else was asleep.
Officials say Bailey later confessed his actions in a recorded interview.
“Time after time during the course of this abuse, the defendant made intentional and unconscionable choices to manipulate and groom his relationship with the child to ultimately lead to the crimes for which he has been convicted,” said DA Joel Smith. “His repeated abuse of the trust that was given to him by the family, his church and the community will leave lasting scars. However, the strength and courage demonstrated by the victim throughout the process and especially today are a shining example of hope to those who may be victimized in the future.”
In March 2015, Bailey was arrested and prosecuted by Louisiana with a hold to be transferred to Mississippi once the prosecution was complete. Bailey was sentenced to serve 10 years in the Louisiana Department of Corrections. Following his conviction in Louisiana, the Harrison County DA’s Office applied for Bailey to be transferred to Harrison County to face prosecution here. He was transferred in late 2018.
After accepting Bailey’s guilty plea on 2 counts of sexual battery, Judge Clark heard from the victim, members of the victim’s family and from Bailey and his family. Judge Clark expressed to Bailey that “through his actions, he had broken the trust of the victim, the church and his own family, and now he would have to face the consequences of his actions”.
Bailey was sentenced to 50 years with 27 years suspended, leaving him to serve 23 years without the possibility of parole or early release. Following his release, he must complete 5 years of post-release supervision, register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and have no contact with the victim.
He will now be returned to Louisiana to complete his sentence there. Upon completion of his Louisiana sentence, will be transferred to the Mississippi Department of Corrections for the duration of his sentence.

News Story https://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2015/03/ex-first_baptist_youth_ministe.html

10 Mark Kit Lucas Church Position: Youth minister
Court of Conviction: Chatham County, 2011
Outcome: Registered sex offender in Georgia for a 2011 child molestation conviction.
Police in Pooler have arrested a local teacher and youth minister on allegations he molested a 13-year-old boy six years ago.
Mark Kit Lucas, 47, was booked Friday into the Chatham County jail on a felony charge of aggravated sexual battery in an assault reported to police earlier this month.
Lucas stands accused of engaging in a sexual act with the youth at Lucas’ Pooler residence, according to a police report.
At Woodlawn Baptist Church in Garden City, Lucas was recognized in 2004 for going beyond his duties as youth and education director, according to Savannah Morning News archives.
On the Woodlawn Baptist Church Web site, Lucas is listed as having been recognized in 2006 for 25 years of service as an organist. The church’s Web site lists him becoming a part-time youth minister in 1997.

News Story https://www.savannahnow.com/news/2009-11-24/teacher-charged-sexual-assault
Sex Offender Record https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5115746-GA-Lucas-Mark-Kit.html

11 Timothy Neal Byars Church Position: Youth minister
Court of Conviction: Knox County, 2008
Outcome: Registered sex offender in Tennessee for rape and for an attempt to commit sexual battery – crimes that were reported in two different cities on two consecutive nights in November 2006. Served two years in prison.
The pastor at Tim Byars’ church tells Action News 5 that the youth minister resigned Sunday morning, following charges he raped a teenage girl competing in a state track meet in Knoxville.
Officials say Byars raped a 14-year-old girl while she slept Friday night.
The victim alerted her parents by text-messaging them. They flew to Knoxville to press charges.
Byars is a youth and music minister at a Dyersburg church in addition to coaching the track team.
Knoxville Police are also working with Nashville Police regarding a sexual assault claim made by a second girl during the same night.
Investigtors say Byars, a non-faculty cross country coach, took the teen, the girl’s sister, and two of his daughters to a private track meet in Knoxville this weekend.
The group planned to sleep in an SUV at Knoxville’s Ashe Park until the meet began.
That’s when the 14-year-old claims Byars raped her.
Now, the Nashville Police Department is investigating claims by a 19-year-old woman alledging that Byars inappropriately touched her while driving to that same track meet.
In addition to serving as Dyersburg High School track coach, Byars also worked as a minister at Springhill Baptist Church in Dyersburg.

News Story https://www.stategazette.com/story/1444593.htm
Sex Offender Record https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4936945-TN-Byars-TimothyNeal.html

12 David Matthew Thorne Church Position: Youth Pastor, Music Minister
Court of Conviction: Hancock County, 2017
Outcome: Sentenced to 25 years for sexual battery and unlawful touching of a child in 2017. Incarcerated in Mississippi.
A former pastor at a Pearl River County church is facing jail time after pleading guilty to two sex crime charges in Hancock County.
David Matthew Thorne, 35, of Picayune, on Monday pleaded guilty in Hancock County Circuit Court to one count of sexual battery and one count of touching a child for lustful purposes. He will be sentenced Sept. 25.
Thorne was arrested in March 2016 for molesting a 15-year-old girl in a church van while he was the youth pastor at Goodyear Baptist Church in Picayune.
He was also arrested on a charge of sexual battery, his third sex crime charge, in Pearl River County less than 24 hours after his arrest in Hancock County. The alleged crimes came under investigation after the child’s parents notified law enforcement officials.

News Story https://www.sunherald.com/news/local/crime/article167470302.html
Police/Court Record https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4918331-MS-Thorne-David-Doc.html

13 Samuel A. Sutter Church Position: Youth pastor
Court of Conviction: Hillsborough County, 2017
Outcome: Pleaded guilty to lewd and lascivious battery, unlawful sexual activity with a minor and use of a computer to solicit illegal acts. Sentenced to 10 years in 2017. Incarcerated in Florida and ordered to register as a sex offender, records show.
The former pastor had already admitted to sexually abusing one of his teenage congregants. He had agreed to serve 10 years in prison. He said nothing as he waited Thursday for a judge to pronounce the sentence.
But the girl’s mother couldn’t stay silent.
“He used God as a weapon,” she told the judge. “Fear as a weapon. Her own beliefs as a weapon.”
When the sexual encounters started, Samuel Sutter was a 25-year-old married pastor at Openwater Church in Odessa.
The girl was 15.
Sutter’s responsibilities included ministering to the church members in middle school, high school and college, and that was how the two met.
They had chatted on the phone and on Twitter. Over time, they started getting together outside church, at coffee shops and malls. The sex began in the fall of 2015.
“He shoved her face into bare, sweaty mattresses, so the evidence wouldn’t be on the sheets when his wife came home,” the mother said in court. “He obsessively reviewed every social media account she had, every text on her phone, every email, every photo …”
The mother spoke of Sutter overpowering the girl, putting his hands on her neck. She spoke of him forcing her to take morning-after pills to prevent her from becoming pregnant. She spoke of him threatening to leave her, if she didn’t do what he wanted, to pursue one of her friends.
In the spring of 2016, the mother noticed her daughter was acting anxious, more stressed than usual. She managed to get into her daughter’s phone, where she found text messages which indicated the two were sexually involved.
Hillsborough sheriff’s detectives investigated and later arrested Sutter. They said most of the sex acts happened at Sutter’s home, but some occurred in the women’s bathroom at the church on Race Track Road in northwest Hillsborough County.
“He chipped away her self worth, her self-esteem, her sense of balance, her trust, her faith in her family, her God and her self,” the mother said. “He continued to take, until all that was left was a shell of a girl who was so fearful and anxious and full of self-loathing that she felt the only way out may be to take her own life.”
Since the abuse ended, the mother said her daughter can’t eat certain foods or listen to the Christian music she once enjoyed. She has nightmares and panic attacks. She fears becoming close to anyone.
“Her precious gift of first love should have nothing to do with an adult, married youth minister …” she said. “This man hurt a child. He’s a dangerous predator, and unforgivable.”
He pleaded guilty to three charges: lewd and lascivious battery, unlawful sexual activity with a minor, and use of a computer or device to solicit illegal acts.
In addition to prison, Sutter was sentenced to 25 years of probation. He will have to register as a sex offender for life.

News Story https://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/criminal/former-odessa-youth-pastor-gets-10-years-for-sex-with-girl-from-church/2339195/
Police/Court Record https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4895843-FL-Sutter-SamuelA-Floridainmate.html

14 Brian Siegfried Brijbag Church Position: Youth pastor
Court of Conviction: Hernando County, 2012
Outcome: Received deferred adjudication in 2012 on a charge of child abuse. Motion to terminate probation granted in 2014.
Youth pastor Brian Brijbag was arrested for an alleged sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl and – and another 18-year-old teen girl. Yep – pastor Brijbag had a threesome in his office at church. Brijbag is 35, married and the father of three children.
Former Baptist youth pastor Brian Brijbag, entered a no contest plea to a lessor charge child abuse, ending his trail for having sexual relations with a 17-year old female congregant. Brijbag is also alleged to have engaged in a sexual relationship with an 18-year old girl.
Brijbag was the youth pastor at First Baptist Church of Booksville. He is married with three children. The plea deal allows him to avoid prison and the sex offender registry.
Former Baptist youth pastor Brian Brijbag, profiled here, entered a no contest plea to a lessor charge child abuse, ending his trail for having sexual relations with a 17-year old female congregant. Brijbag is also alleged to have engaged in a sexual relationship with an 18-year old girl.
As part of his plea agreement, Brian Brijbag, 36, will serve three years probation, undergo sex offender counseling, pay a $964 fine and have no contact with his accuser.

News Story https://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/ex-youth-pastor-avoids-sex-trial-with-plea-deal/1229676/

15 Scott Dewayne Wright Church Position: Youth pastor
Court of Conviction: Pinellas County, 2009
Outcome: Convicted of two counts of sex with a 16- or 17-year old; sentenced to four years in prison. Released. Required to register as a sex offender.
A youth pastor was arrested this week, accused of having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a 16-year-old girl in a Palm Harbor home.
Scott Dewayne Wright, 35, who lives in New Port Richey, turned himself into Pinellas authorities Monday. He was charged with two counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor.
Detectives say Wright met the teen in September 2006 when he was a youth pastor at Calvary Chapel in New Port Richey.
The next year, according to authorities, Wright befriended the teen, and at least twice between September and November 2007, he engaged in sexual activity with her.
A year later, detectives began investigating the case after the teen’s parents contacted authorities. The parents reportedly learned of the incidents from their daughter’s counselor.
Wright later worked for the Crossing Church in Tampa for a period of time, according to the church’s Web site. Tuesday evening, a church pastor there said Wright no longer works there.
According to his biography on the Web site, Wright is married with four children. The site, which referred to Wright as “Pastor Scott” said he began working at that church as student director in 2007. It also said that he “has a great drive to take youth on overseas missions trips every year.”

News Story https://www.theledger.com/news/20090401/youth-pastor-accused-of-having-sex-with-16-year-old
Sex Offender Record https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5002798-FL-Wright-SCOTT-DWAYNE-Florida-Sexual-Offender.html
Police/Court Record https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4883648-FL-Wright-ScottDwayne.html

16 James Louis Kubicek III Church Position: Youth minister
Court of Conviction: Lowndes County, 2012
Outcome: Convicted of child molestation, sexual exploitation of a child and enticing a child for indecent purposes. Sentenced to 20 years on the first charge, five years on the second charge and 10 years on the third charge. Incarcerated in Georgia.
A Valdosta youth minister remains in jail Tuesday on Child Molestation charges. The Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office began investigating last week after they got a tip he was sexually involved with an underaged member of his church.
Folks in Valdosta were shocked to hear of the suspected child molestation by a pastor from First Baptist Church. “It’s a well known church in this area, a large congregation, and I’m just so sorry they had to be faced with this,” said Lowndes County Sheriff Chris Pine.
29-year old James Kubicek III was a youth minister at the church. Lowndes County deputies arrested Kubicek when he returned from a church mission trip around 3 o’clock Monday morning. “Anybody in that position, in such regards, should also realize that according to the bible you’re held to a higher standard,” said Valdosta Resident Reginald Benjamin.
Investigators tell us Kubicek confessed to the crimes against a 15-year old girl. The church fired Kubicek as soon as they heard about the misconduct. “They have been very cooperative in our efforts to investigate this crime,” said Pine.
Many folks told us off camera that it is the responsibility of the parents to monitor their children’s behavior. Others said it’s disgusting this can even happen.

News Story https://www.walb.com/story/14992656/youth-minister-charged-with-child-molestation/
Police/Court Record https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4901480-GA-Kubicek-JamesLouisIII-GAprisonrecord.html

17 John Holland Brothers Jr Church Position: Youth minister
Court of Conviction: Routt County, 2014
Outcome: Sentenced 20 years to life. Incarcerated in Colorado.
John H. Brothers Jr. fits the pattern of child molesters who move from place to place in an effort to stay ahead of the law — and find more victims. A former teacher and youth pastor, Brothers was targeted with child abuse charges in Kentucky that prompted him to relocate to Louisiana — where he was busted for similar crimes previously committed in Colorado. Get the disturbing details below.
Between 2006 and 2008, as the Craig Daily Press reported in April 2012, around the time he was charged for crimes in Colorado, Brothers worked as a youth pastor at First Baptist Church in Yampa and a teacher at Steamboat Springs’ Heritage Christian School.
Brothers was so well-regarded at Heritage Christian, where he taught science, math and a Bible class, that he returned to the school in May 2009 to deliver the commencement address.
By then, Brothers had moved on to Henderson, Kentucky, where he became a youth minister at Hyland Baptist Church — but he didn’t stay there over the long haul.
According to The Gleaner, a newspaper in Henderson, he left Kentucky for West Monroe, Louisiana in October 2011 after church deacons at Hyland confronted him with sex-abuse allegations that had come from two members of the youth group he oversaw.
The move didn’t keep him out of trouble. The Gleaner reports that he was arrested on two sex-abuse counts the following month, after he returned to his Henderson home to collect some of his belongings.
A grand jury indictment followed the next February, with a trial set for that May — but these plans were put on hold when a reported Brothers victim in Colorado came forward that same year to say he’d been molested for more than two years, from April 1, 2006 to May 31, 2008.
The accuser is described by 7News as having been twelve years of age when Brothers assaulted him.
The gears of justice ground as slowly in this case as in many others, and as a result, Brothers’s trial on the Colorado charges didn’t end until Friday, when a jury found him guilty of sixteen counts: eight pertaining to sex assault on a child, with a like number specifying that he was a person in a position of trust.

News Story https://www.westword.com/news/john-brothers-ex-pastor-and-teacher-convicted-of-sex-assault-on-twelve-year-old-boy-5908701
Police/Court Record https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4910863-CA-Brothers-JohnHColoradoprisoner.html

18 Luke A. Cooke Church Position: Youth Minister
Court of Conviction: Shelby County and federal, 2015
Outcome: Youth minister fled to China, Morocco and Albania after being indicted on sex crimes charges in Shelby County, Tenn., in 2007. In 2015, he was brought back from Albania by U.S. marshals and convicted in Tennessee of “coercion or enticement of a minor” for having transported a juvenile with the intent of engaging in illegal sexual activity and sentenced to 138 months. He is serving out his sentence in federal prison.
A former youth minister charged with rape was extradited to Shelby County on Thursday.
Luke Cooke was indicted on rape and aggravated sexual battery charges in 2007. Shelby County investigators said Cooke raped an 8-year-old and a 16-year-old.
Cooke then left the country. He was found in China, but when U.S. Marshals prepared to deport him back to the United States, he ran again
.In 2014, detectives learned that Cooke was in Morocco. A few weeks later in April 2014, Interpol contacted the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office to say they found Cooke in an airport in Albania with an expired passport.
U.S Marshals obtained a federal arrest warrant for Cooke, charged him with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, and began the extradition process.
He was extradited from Albania in September 2015 after nine years on the run, which included stops in China, Morocco and Spain
A man will serve 11-and-a-half years in prison after pleading guilty to rape and aggravated sexual battery.
Luke Cooke, 34, said he is guilty of sexually molesting an 8-year-old boy and a 16-year-old boy between 2003 and 2006.
He was the youth minister at the local church where the complaints were made, authorities said.
The sentence was negotiated as part of a settlement approved by Criminal Court Judge W. Mark Ward. Cooke will serve it concurrently with a separate federal sentence of 11-and-a-half years, which was handed down last week in the U.S. District Court. He received the federal sentence after he pleaded guilty to interstate transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity involving a child.
Cooke will also be under supervision for life and will be placed on the sex offender registry.

News Story https://www.wmcactionnews5.com/story/29957115/former-youth-pastor-charged-with-rape-extradited-to-shelby-county/

https://wreg.com/news/former-youth-minister-pleads-guilty-to-molesting-young-boys/

Police/Court Record https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5002541-TN-Cooke-LukeBOP.html

19 Douglas Randall Pope Church Position: Youth pastor
Court of Conviction: Bulloch County, 2012
Outcome: Registered sex offender in Georgia. Pleaded guilty to child molestation.
The youth pastor at a Statesboro church has been arrested on enticing a child and child molestation charges.
Douglas Randall Pope, 31, of Statesboro, was charges with three counts of enticing a child for indecent purposes and one count of child molestation.
The Criminal Investigations Bureau of the Statesboro Police Department got a complaint May 20 that a 14-year-old girl was being molested by a 31-year-old man.
The complainant told investigators that man was the youth pastor of Merrywood Baptist Church in Statesboro, according to Statesboro police.
The victim said inappropriate behavior and touching happened over the past two years and also involved other girls. More interviews were conducted with other girls and more complaints were received.
Detectives executed a search warrant Tuesday at Pope’s apartment at 315 S. Zetterower Ave. Computers, cameras and related digital media were seized from the apartment.
Pope was home at the time and was later interviewed at the Statesboro Police Department about the complaints, according to police.
The investigation continues and more charges are anticipated in this case.
The Merrywood Baptist Church was alerted by police about Pope’s arrest.
Let’s break this one down. Pope is a Baptist. He fat and unmarried. He attended some university courses but does not appear to have a degree. He’s only worked with children and young adults. His only qualifications are that he’s worked with kids. The victim is a 14-year-old girl (prime age for abuse). His church is of the small Baptist variety in Georgia with a very small staff. The church website has no information about the arrest and has made no statements. We don’t know if there was a background check performed or adequate safeguards in place. Conclusion – the situation does not look good for Pope. This scenario is typical for clergy sexual abuse among Baptists.

“The youth pastor at a Statesboro church has been arrested on enticing a child and child molestation charges.  Douglas Randall Pope, 31, of Statesboro, was charged with three counts of enticing a child for indecent purposes and one count of child molestation.  The Criminal Investigations Bureau of the Statesboro Police Department got a complaint May 20 that a 14-year-old girl was being molested by a 31-year-old man.  

The complainant told investigators that man was the youth pastor of Merrywood Baptist Church in Statesboro, according to Statesboro police.”

“According to a press release, a 14-year-old girl alleges that Pope inappropriately touched her over the past two years. The victim told police other juvenile females were also involved.

Additional complaints were made against Pope when investigators conducted interviews with other juvenile females, the press release said.  Following a search of the suspect’s residence, detectives seized “computers, cameras and related digital media.”  The investigation is ongoing and additional charges are expected, the report said.  Anyone with information is asked to contact the Criminal Investigative Bureau of the Statesboro Police Department.”

News Story https://www.wtoc.com/story/14715238/statesboro-youth-pastor-charged-with-child-molestation/

https://mojoey.blogspot.com/2011/06/youth-pastor-douglas-pope-arrested.html

https://www.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/06/07/youth-pastor-watch

Sex Offender Record https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4901460-GA-Pope-DouglasRandall.html

20 Joe David Nelms Church Position: Youth pastor; volunteer bible study leader
Court of Conviction: Orange County, 2011
Outcome: Had already moved to Texas when he was arrested on California charges. Convicted of lewd or lascivious acts with a minor (victim aged 13). Sentenced to one year in jail and five years probation in California and required to register as a sex offender for life. Registered sex offender in Texas.
Prosecutors in California sought public help in identifying possible additional victims of a former youth pastor under arrest on a charge of sexual assault.
Joe David Nelms, 47, was arrested March 18 in Lindale, Texas, on an Orange County warrant charging him with eight felony counts of lewd acts on a child under 14. A press release from the California district attorney’s office said a woman now in her 30s came forward recently to allege that Nelms molested her over three years beginning when she was 14 years old in 1993.
Prosecutors said Nelms committed the crimes while working as a youth pastor at Pacific Coast Church in San Clemente, Calif., originally named First Baptist Church of San Clemente, from 1990 to 2000.
At the time of his arrest, Nelms was a volunteer Bible study teacher at First Baptist Church in Lindale, Texas, a church affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and the Baptist General Convention of Texas . He also worked as a counselor for high school-aged children at Sky Ranch, a Christian camp and ministry.
Based on evidence obtained in the investigation, investigators said they believe that Nelms may have additional victims.
Sky Ranch, a Christian camping ministry with locations in Van, Texas; Cave Springs, Okla., and Ute Trail, Colo., released a statement saying that based on an internal investigation there is no reason to believe that Helms harmed any children during his employment there.

Joe David Nelms has served his time in prison. In 2011, he was sentenced to one year in jail and five years of probation for molesting a young girl beginning when she was 14. He is now a registered sex offender in Texas and California.

Nelms served as the youth pastor at Pacific Coast Church (formerly known as First Baptist Church of San Clemente), between 1990 and 2000. He was arrested on an Orange County warrant after moving to Lindale, Texas, where he was volunteering as a Bible study teacher at First Baptist Church. He also worked as a counselor for high school-aged children at Sky Ranch, a Christian camp and ministry. He was ultimately convicted on charges of lewd or lascivious acts with a minor. The victim was 13 when the abuse started.

Prosecutors say Nelms was arrested after a woman, now in her 30s, came forward to claim that the youth pastor sexually molested her over the course of three years, beginning when she was 14 years old in 1993. Police sought public information to find additional victims, though no reports on additional victims were released at the time.

A 47-year-old former San Clemente youth pastor pleaded guilty today to molesting a parishioner beginning when she was 14 years old, according to court records. Joe David Nelms pleaded guilty to eight felony counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a minor and was sentenced to a year in jail and five years of formal probation, according to court records.

News Story https://baptistnews.com/article/former-youth-pastor-charged-with-sexual-assault/#.Wt94JC7waUk

https://abuseguardian.com/joe-nelms-california-southern-baptist/

https://patch.com/california/sanclemente/former-san-clemente-youth-pastor-pleaded-guilty-in-mod3ed0cac9e

Sex Offender Record https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4910868-CA-TX-Nelms-JoeDavid.html