Former Garland Youth Minister Charged with Producing Child Porn

By Kevin Krause
Dallas Morning News
July 25, 2013

http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2013/07/former-garland-youth-minister-charged-with-producing-child-porn.html/

Joshua Earls, a former youth minister at the Arapaho Road Baptist Church in Garland, is accused of a molesting a 16-year-old girl.

A former Garland youth minister accused of molesting a teenage girl has been indicted in federal court on a charge of producing child pornography.

Joshua Earls and the 16-year-old girl he sexually assaulted had sent each other text messages with photos of each others’ genitalia, according to a federal complaint.

Earls and his brother are both accused of molesting underage girls. The brothers met the victims through Arapaho Road Baptist Church in Garland.

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent found the photos on Earls’ cell phone that was seized during a search of his Garland home in April, the complaint said.

Earls said he downloaded child pornography to his computer and had videos of the victim masturbating at his request.

“Earls admitted to ‘sexting’ with several girls, as well as exchanging nude pictures and videos” with the victim, the complaint said.

Detectives also retrieved from the phone sexually-explicit text messages between Earls and the victim from January 2012 to March 2013, according to the complaint.

The investigation began when the victim accused Earls of sexually abusing her. She said she began texting Earls in 2009 when she was 13, and over time Earls began asking her sexual questions, according to the complaint.

He started sexting her when she was 15, the federal complaint said.

In April or May 2012, she and Earls were at a church youth bible study/swim party when Earls sexually assaulted her in a hot tub, the complaint said.

The federal indictment was issued on Wednesday.

The defendant’s brother is facing state charges.

Jordan Earls, 24, a student pastor at his father’s church in South Carolina and former volunteer at the Garland church, is charged with online solicitation of a minor in Collin County. He’s also charged with indecency with a child and two counts of sexual assault of a child in Garland.

Contact: kkrause@dallasnews.com