Registered sex offender was allowed to participate at South Carolina church for decades
Summary
A South Carolina church allowed a registered sex offender named Jerry Sidell to take part in ministry activities for over 20 years, despite his past convictions for child molestation in Georgia. The church only recently banned him from participating and introduced new rules to manage registered sex offenders attending services.Key Facts
- Jerry Sidell was convicted in Georgia in the 1980s for molesting boys he met through religious youth work.
- Sidell joined Brookwood Baptist Church in Simpsonville, South Carolina, in 1999 and served in various ministry roles.
- The church knew about his past but restricted him from working with children or student ministries.
- Sidell had to inform ministry leaders about his criminal record for any adult-related church activities.
- The senior pastor, Bryan Jones, said he only recently learned about Sidell’s offender status.
- After this discovery, the church removed Sidell from adult music and prayer groups.
- Brookwood created a policy requiring registered sex offenders to check in with security and sit with a guard during services.
- The church’s new policies followed a case nearby where another registered sex offender was arrested for working with children in a southern Baptist church.
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