Prestonwood Baptist Church Minister, Joe Barron, has been arrested and charged with online solicitation of a minor in a sting operation. The girl turned out to be a Bryan police officer working in an ongoing Internet sex sting, pretending to be a thirteen year-old girl. Mr. Barron, 52 years old, had been one of 40 ministers in the 26,000 member mega-church in Plano Texas for the last eighteen months, ministering to married adults, prior to his arrest on May 15, 2008. Mr. Barron was nabbed by police after driving about 200 miles from Plano to Bryan to meet with a girl he thought to be thirteen years old, having asked the girl to skip school and meet him.
Inside the car Mr. Barron borrowed from his wife, police found a box of 10 condoms, a Web camera and headset that authorities believe he was going to give the girl, police said. Bryan police Officer Lesley Malinak, a Police Department spokeswoman commented, “It is common for people that are engaged in this type of activity” to give gifts to the minors that “they are grooming.”
Pastor Jack Graham has since accepted Mr. Barron’s resignation from Prestonwood Baptist Church, telling church members, “You need to know that we are appalled and we are disgraced by this terrible action, an unacceptable action by a minister on our staff. I’m so sorry for the injury that this kind of behavior has brought to many people in our church and outside of our church.”
The pastor said he was eager to move on, promising church members that the church would continue to make sure it hired ministers and staff of the “highest character”. “We want to put this in the rearview mirror,” Graham said. “We will handle anything we need to handle in terms of our responsibilities and obligations, and any ongoing investigation”.
Prestonwood’s executive pastor, Mike Buster said in a prepared statement, “church officials had no record or knowledge of prior improprieties, nor had they observed any inappropriate behavior in the time Mr. Barron worked on staff.” If convicted, Mr. Barron could face up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine for the second-degree felony. Bryan police also are investigating and looking into whether Mr. Barron may have engaged in previous sexual contact with minors, but at this time Mr. Barron does not appear to have a criminal history.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) has in recent years expanded its focus, with attention to abuse by Baptist pastors. “Baptist officials, we believe, need to compile a thorough, online database of proven, admitted and credibly accused pedophile clergy, so that kids can be protected and parents can be warned,” said David Clohessy, SNAP national director.
It will be interesting to see whether SNAP will be able to accomplish the goal of having an online pedophile database in order to help protect children from child molesters, by clergy and priests, and I do applaud and support their efforts. I am personally looking forward to seeing the day when an already established, yet secret pedophile database of Jehovah’s Witnesses will become public knowledge. Perhaps then I will believe something of real benefit is being done to protect children, yours and mine. Who is really knocking on your door?
Do you really know who is ministering to you and your children? When attending church, are you with your children at all times, or are you in a separate classroom while your children are being taught elsewhere within the church? But by whom really?
Further Reading:
Child Sexual Abuse: Facts vs. Myths
Why Don’t Kids Tell? Talking to Your Children About Sexual Abuse
Mother Blame: Blaming Mothers of Sexually Abused Children
Child Safety and Child Sexual Abuse-The Series
The Profile of A Pedophile: Identifying Characteristics and Behaviors of Child Molesters
Signs and Symptoms of Child Sexual Abuse: Child Molestation Prevention
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16 responses so far ↓
1 Hungry Mother (45 comments.) // May 18, 2008 at 2:18 pm
I still don’t get how these people slip though and get themselves accepted into positions of responsibility.
2 Lin (793 comments.) // May 18, 2008 at 2:50 pm
HM, many people rely on Federal Background Checks but many pedophiles have not yet been caught and convicted of their crimes, so there are thousands upon thousands of child molester’s who no one knows about. At least not until they are caught, as Joe Barron has. What bothers me so much is that pedophiles purposely seek out employment type opportunities where they will have access to children, including churches where families go and often separate into different classrooms, leaving children vulnerable to these perverts.
3 Eric Badgley (1 comments.) // May 18, 2008 at 9:28 pm
You know its crazy sometimes the ones you would never think can do something like this would do it.
Never trust anyone is my motto
4 guardian angel (9 comments.) // May 19, 2008 at 12:13 am
Old story, new characters. This is what I have been telling to my daughter.
Devils will not wear devil clothes, Lin.
The rule is simple, trust no one.
5 Lin (793 comments.) // May 19, 2008 at 6:10 am
Hi Eric, thanks for stopping by. Pedophiles unfortunately don’t have a neon sign stamped on their foreheads indicating the truth of who they really are and the dangers they pose. Child molesters seek out employment opportunities where they can be close to children, including churches.
GA, Devils in sheep’s clothing. As sad as it is, churchgoing people are not aware at all of someone in their place of worship that has perverted interest in their child.
6 Monique (1 comments.) // May 19, 2008 at 8:47 am
When I saw this on CNN I was floored. People never learn.
7 Lin (793 comments.) // May 19, 2008 at 9:02 am
Hi Monique. It really didn’t surprise me at all. I think about the other churches he ministered at previous to Prestonwood; news reports said Mr. Barron was a minister at the Northrich Baptist Church in Richardson Texas at one time too (not far from my office). I wonder about who his other victims are, and when or if those children have disclosed being sexually abused by him.
Statistics of sexual abuse show that child molesters have many victims prior to being caught, so my thoughts have been on those children and this perp’s family and children.
I really hope that parents who have attended churches Mr. Barron has been associated with are diligently talking to their children, and asking pointed questions.
8 Josh Spoehr (1 comments.) // May 19, 2008 at 6:22 pm
It seems people are surprised when people who are seemingly trustworthy do this sick stuff, teachers, pastors, priests….
I is the perfect cover for these folks….Oh did you hear so or so did this… That can’t be true because of the title they hold….
It might be the very reason that a person got into that profession??
9 Lin (793 comments.) // May 19, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Hi Josh, thank you for stopping by, and you’re right. Child molesters purposely seek out employment where children are easily accessible to them, hiding behind respectable positions of authority.
People need to stop being surprised by these things and realize their children are at risk of being sexually abused at school, church, summer camps, in the park etc, and most often by someone the child knows and trusts (often someone within the family).
10 regina (1 comments.) // May 20, 2008 at 11:37 am
It is so sad, but we are hearing more and more stories like this. A lot of people will sure have a lot to account for on judgment day…
11 temps (1 comments.) // May 21, 2008 at 12:33 am
aih.. what have this world become to.. arent religion suppose to be sacred and holy. guess there is no safe place on earth anymore.
12 April (2 comments.) // May 21, 2008 at 7:12 pm
This is so horrible. It’s because of people like him that many people turn away from Christianity. He’s a disgrace. I feel so bad for his family.
13 Lin (793 comments.) // May 21, 2008 at 7:58 pm
When I first heard about this story, my first thought was if he was married or had kids. Ugh, the news report said he had borrowed his wife’s car for his perverted escapade. I haven’t heard whether he has any kids of his own or not.
14 isabella mori (1 comments.) // Jun 2, 2008 at 11:36 pm
“People need to stop being surprised by these things and realize their children are at risk of being sexually abused at school, church, summer camps, in the park etc, and most often by someone the child knows and trusts (often someone within the family).”
and that includes parents, who are the most frequent child abusers.
is the solution to trust no-one? i don’t think so. mistrust does not breed anything good.
i believe part of the solution is to keep everyone’s eyes open, and to educate our children - not scare them of the boogyman but educated them. tell them early on that there are people out there who are ill and who might do things to them that feel weird and icky and scary. make it abundantly clear to them that their body is theirs. that means some very concrete things - “give aunt betty a hug” doesn’t cut it when we want our children to own their bodies. teach them self defense early on.
and i also advocate that while we need to make it as difficult as possible for people afflicted with the illness of pedophilia to give in to their cravings, we also need to extend compassion to them. they, too, are our brothers and sisters (yes, there’s women among them, too.)
15 Lin (793 comments.) // Jun 3, 2008 at 5:03 am
Isabella, educating our children about sexual abuse is extremely important of course. As my other articles on the subject make clear, child molesters can certainly be women or mothers, fathers, brothers, aunts, uncles etc.
I’m not too sure that readers will find themselves feeling much “compassion” for pedophiles Isabella, but maybe that’s just me.
16 Roel // Jul 10, 2008 at 9:41 pm
I am so saddened that a minister of the Lord will do such an appalling thing.
My heart goes to the family of Mr. Barron. They could have been very much affected by what had happened.
I believe there is no full-proof protection for our kids with these so called child molesters. They can be our frends, our church mates , neighbors , or worst our relatives.For a determine person to do what he/she thought would make her lust for sex be fulfilled.The only way i guess is to have strict regulations and laws regarding sexual abusers be enforced.
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