A Texas minister has been charged with distributing child pornography after an investigation found nude photos of girls on his computer.
Jon Sheptock, 49, was the worship minister at First Montgomery Baptist Church but has since been removed "from all responsibilities at the church." Sheptock was taken into custody while he was ministering to inmates at a women's prison in central Texas, police said.
Sheptock Sent the Victim the Nude Image and Told Her He 'Wanted More'
The investigation began when a 26-year-old woman told detectives that she believes Sheptock stole a nude image of her from her iCloud account nine years earlier, then "sent the image of the victim (and) told her he wanted more explicit images of her."
The defendant (Sheptock) then sent her a video depicting someone being physically assaulted, accompanied by a statement implying that he did not want that to happen to her," an affidavit said.
Victim was Scared to Come Forward Because Her Parents Had 'Strong Religious Beliefs,' was Worried About Telling Them She Had Taken Nude Photos of Herself
The victim, who was 17 at the time, told investigators she hadn't come forward then because of "her parents' strong religious beliefs." "The victim was concerned about how her parents would react to the fact she had taken a nude photo of herself," the affidavit said.
The victim further told investigators that Sheptock showed her other nude photographs of women and young girls on his computer. He reportedly sent her a nude photo of young girls as recently as last October.
The investigation began in August, which said detectives searched his home last week. He was at the women's prison in Gatesville at the time, and Montgomery County officials asked the Texas Department of Public Safety for assistance taking him into custody.
The First Montgomery Baptist Church said in its statement that Sheptock "did not have responsibilities overseeing children in the church or school except occasionally in a large group setting with other adults." The church said it would "fully cooperate with law enforcement and trust the judicial process."
