Derek Hutter, youth pastor and minister of a Texas church, has been arrested for sex abuse, along with two other charges, KHOU reports today. According to police record, Derek Hutter was charged with possession of child porn, online solicitation of a minor, and continuous sex abuse of a child. The victim, authorities say, is a 14-year-old girl from Sachse.

Sex offender Derek Hutter met the young girl at the church located at 1330 E Centerville Rd in Garland, where he is the student pastor. South Garland Baptist Church Pastor Larry Davis told CBS-11 that the congregation feels for the victim.

“The Church Family is devastated at this time. The church is also devastated for the families involved.”

The case broke wide open when the Sachse girl’s parents went to authorities, after discovering a disturbing email from Derek Hutter to their underage daughter. In that email, Hutter asked the girl to send him explicit photos of herself. The girl told counselors that she had sex with Derek Hutter over a dozen times, and had been involved with the youth minister since she was 13-years-old.

During the police investigation, law enforcement officials found photos of the victim on his cellular phone. They also discovered that Hutter worked as a youth pastor at several churches throughout the Houston and Dallas areas, according to Dallas News.

Parents should take notice when an adult shows too much interest in their child. Ministers, pastors, youth coaches, and any other profession that allows an adult to have access to underage children should be supervised by the child’s parents as much as possible. This includes after school classes, where a child might participate in swimming, volleyball, karate, or musical lessons.

A mother in the mid 1990s did just that. She had a feeling that her daughter’s track coach was a tad bit too interested in her daughter. The mother decided to pay unexpected visits to the after school practice sessions. The mother showed up so sporadically, that the coach seemed annoyed by her presence. A month later, the track coach was arrested in one of the biggest sex and rape scandals California had ever seen.

Parents should keep the line of communication open with their children, explaining what is appropriate and what is not. Periodically, it is good if a parent asks their children if anyone, including a teacher, is touching them inappropriately.

Youth ministry programs are developed to provide wholesome association for youths and teens, and to give them a safe place to interact with other youths, church leaders, and mentors. Unfortunately, sex offenders and child molesters are running rampant all over the United States, taking full advantage of vulnerable children and busy parents who trust them. Churches would do well to exercise due diligence in searching the history of an applicant by performing a background and criminal records check. In a previous Inquisitr article, the case of church pastor Duane Youngblood was examined.