Pastor Repeatedly Molested 2 Children

By Joe Douglass
KATU
January 7, 2015

http://www.katu.com/news/investigators/Prosecutor-Pastor-repeatedly-molested-2-children-287874481.html

A pastor from Gresham accused of sexually abusing children faced a judge for the first time in the case as the prosecutor revealed disturbing new details about the charges on Wednesday.

Brigid Turner, a deputy district attorney in Deschutes County, told the court there were two victims, a boy who was two to four years old at the time of the alleged abuse, and a girl who was six to eight.

Turner said James “Jamie” Worley repeatedly molested the children from 2002 to 2004 in Deschutes County. The indictment includes 37 charges.

"Most of the counts are Class A felonies, sexual abuse committed against two minors," said Turner.

>>The indictment

As the deputy DA talked about the allegations, Worley shook his head and motioned with his hands before the public defender told him to stop.

KATU has confirmed the alleged victims in the case were not children that Worley worked with.

Still, Turner fears there may be more victims.

"During that time period, we have information he was working as the director of recreation at Sunriver and had access to children," Turner said.

Before his arrest last month, KATU found out Worley had been working as a pastor at Powell Valley Church in Gresham.

KATU also discovered Worley worked as an officer for the Tillamook Police Department for about a year before his badge was revoked in 2007 because of misconduct.

A source who knew Worley during the time of these latest allegations told KATU off-camera that Worley has lived and worked in several other states. The source expects charges to be filed in those other jurisdictions.

Turner would neither confirm nor deny claims made by the source.

KATU confirmed that Oregon State Police is investigating other allegations of abuse in counties where Worley lived and worked.

The OSP, which is the lead agency in the Worley investigation, would not specify which counties they were focusing on.

Worley is due back in court to enter a plea in the case on Jan. 29.

KATU called and emailed a spokeswoman for Sunriver Resort about Turner’s claims. Senior Marketing Manager Molly Johnson sent KATU the following statement:

"Today, Jan. 7, 2015, it was brought to our attention a man accused of the sexual assault of minors between 2002 – 2004 stated he previously worked at “Sunriver” during the alleged time period. We are taking this seriously and are in the process of thoroughly reviewing HR records, but as of now, we have yet to uncover documents that confirm employment of the individual in question during that time period. As this is a legal matter, we are unable to comment further until we clarify the facts or are contacted by authorities, whom we will fully cooperate with for any investigation needs."

KATU also checked to see if Worley had a connection with the Gresham-Barlow School District after a parent expressed concerns that Worley led prayer groups for youth at Sam Barlow High School.

District spokeswoman Athena Vadnais said via email, "We checked with staff at Sam Barlow High School---Mr. Worley has not led any student prayer groups or student bible studies. He has not served as a basketball coach and is not employed by the school district."

However, KATU received an email late Tuesday that suggested otherwise.

"I would like to remain an unnamed student at Sam Barlow High School," the email stated. "I can confirm that in fact Worley did host a worship during lunches at our school. He also held a bible study after school. As I student I can say that the process to get someone inside our school is extraordinarily easy. Worley had open contact with hundred of students at any time. There are no rules or regulations on where a visitor can be in the school. The application process to be a volunteer is deeply flawed, and not extensive. The church is just down the road from our school, and many students attend there. The contact between Worley and students is unsupervised, and he is free to walk anywhere on school grounds."

In a second email the student added, "I would like to clarify what I mean by hundreds of students at a time. The prayer groups were not nearly that big, from the ones I saw I would say maybe 20 students. The hundreds was meant that it was during lunches when hundreds of students were out of class. He had free roam to contact hundreds of students during that lunch period."

KATU followed up with the district and Vadnais responded via Email on Wednesday, saying, “Our Deputy Superintendent James Hiu visited the school this morning to investigate the claims made by the anonymous student. Our investigation did not uncover any evidence that Mr. Worley led a worship during lunch or a bible study after school … We do have a process in place for requests from students to assemble and use a space in the school before or after school, or at lunch. They must go through the administration to make the request and it is required that the meeting be supervised by a staff member. Regarding visitors and volunteers---all are required to check in at the office and are assigned a visitor’s badge so we know who is in the building and for what purpose. Volunteers are required to undergo a background check.”

Also, KATU found that Powell Valley Church, along with several other local churches, took part in a community outreach event last year at Sam Barlow High School. Students were invited to attend.

In response to questions about this event, Vadnais told KATU, "On one day in August, churches from throughout the community, along with other volunteers (Parent-Teacher Clubs) spruce up school grounds by doing pruning, spreading bark dust, painting, and the like. It is a one day event at every school in our community before school starts for the year and many churches participate."

This is a developing story.