A former youth worship leader and music teacher at a Virginia church pleaded guilty to two more counts of indecent liberties of a minor Monday, having already been convicted of five counts last year.
Jordan Baird, 27, behaved inappropriately with a 16-year-old girl who took music lessons from him at The Life Church in Manassas, where his father is the pastor, prosecutors said.
Special prosecutor Kevin Gross told the judge it started with text messages to the girl. “I would marry you if I wasn’t with my wife,” he wrote. He also told the girl she was beautiful.
Then during a music lesson, he took the girl into a dark room and locked the door, prosecutors said. He began kissing her, forced her to touch him and later exposed himself when she refused his request for oral sex.
When she left the church that day she, told her mother she never wanted to go back again.
Baird faces up to five years on each count when he is sentenced May 20.
A jury found Baird guilty on five counts of taking indecent liberties with a minor last year. All of those counts were connected to the abuse of one underage girl. He was sentenced to five months in jail.
He was arrested in August 2016 after a 16-year-old girl told police he sent her inappropriate text messages and touched her inappropriately at the church numerous times between January and September 2015.
After his arrest, the second victim came forward and told police about his inappropriate sexual contact with her in 2013.
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The allegations against him are part of the impetus for legislation awaiting the governor’s signature that would add clergy to the list of mandated reporters of child abuse.
