Plum Youth Pastor Charged with Raping Teenage Girl

WTAE
June 2, 2015

http://www.wtae.com/news/plum-boro-youth-pastor-charged-with-raping-teenage-girl/33361520

[with video]

A Plum youth pastor is charged with raping an underage girl he met at Amplify Church and then continuing their relationship.

According to the criminal complaint, the girl, 16, met Daniel Jack, 31, when they spent time together at church functions and fundraising for a trip through the church.

VIDEO: Watch Beau Berman's report

Jack had no comment as he left his arraignment with Judge Cheryl Yakopec in Allegheny Township Tuesday after posting bail, but his lawyer, Robert Mielnicki, spoke to Pittsburgh’s Action News 4.

"Mr. Jack was surprised what the accusations were when he read the complaint for the first time today," Mielnicki said.

During January, the girl says, Jack began texting her often and it made her uncomfortable because he was attempting to get closer to her outside of church activities. The girl says Jack, who is married, set up a Google account for both of them to email using fake names. He also allegedly bought her a second cellphone and downloaded an app to the phone called “Hangout.”

Through the app, he continued texting and emailing the girl in secret. The complaint says Jack would put a heart at the end of text messages to her.

On an unknown day, while the girl was at Jack’s house helping with housework, the defendant told her that he loved her. She said this made her feel awkward, but nothing further took place.

The victim said she continued to spend time with Jack because she looked up to him as a father figure, mentor and leader after their time at the church.

According to the complaint, sometime before Easter, Jack took her to his parents’ home in Lower Burrell and propositioned her for sex. The girl says she was upset and crying as Jack kissed her and continued further. On another encounter after, Jack brought up them having sex again. The girl told Jack she didn’t want to, but he forcefully held her on the ground.

The girl and Jack has sex approximately six times. After being forced to have sex the first time, she says she did not object the other times. They encounters took place at his house, his parents’ house, in a car, and in a wooded area near Jack’s house.

“She says she was forcibly raped once and then had consensual sex with her attacker six times after that,” Mielnicki said. “I'm not saying that's impossible. I'm just saying that seems like strange behavior to me.”

On May 11, the girl's mother call State Police in Kiski Valley to report her daughter missing and that she had left behind a suicide note. Through the investigation it was learned that Jack had driven to the Crabtree area to pick up the teenager near her home. He then drove her to the Lower Burrell area where she went to a shack in a wooded area they had spent time together in before. Upon request from State Police, Jack, along with his wife, returned to the area and brought the girl out of the woods and to police who returned her to her mother.

Jack is charged with rape, involuntary deviant sexual intercourse, concealment of whereabouts of a child, sexual assault by sports official volunteer or employee of nonprofit association, corruption of minors, criminal use of communication facility and indecent assault.

In addition to his role at the church, Daniel Jack is an IT professional with the Kiski Area School District.

Neighbors near his Lower Burrell street said they were "shocked" by the allegations on Tuesday.

"There's a lot of things happening locally, lately, in different school districts and it's just very, very, pathetic I think, that these are grown men that know better, that should know better, and should not be doing that," said Kay Tudor, who lives a block away from Mr. Jack.