Wife Condemns Youth Pastor in Sex Crimes Case

KETV
March 9, 2012

http://www.ketv.com/r/30641647/detail.html

A mother who has to tell her children that their father is a sexual predator expresses courage and condemnation.

Brent Girouex was once a church elder, then a youth pastor, but he is now a convicted sex offender.

Girouex pleaded guilty to sexual abuse in the third degree. He also entered an Alford plea on two counts of sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist, admitting prosecutors had enough evidence to find him guilty. One charge is a felony, and the other is a misdemeanor.

A judge issued a 17-year prison sentence Wednesday, but then suspended it to allow Girouex to get sex offender treatment and probation. Girouex's probation will last five years -- the maximum allowed by law.

Girouex will also be under the supervision of the Iowa Department of Corrections for the rest of his life, as part of the state's special sentence for sex offenders,

Erin Girouex, the pastor's wife, said Thursday probation is not enough. She joined the victims to say they are frustrated. She also said victims of sexual misconduct should not be afraid to come forward, despite what happened in court.

She said it's tough to know how her husband changed from the man he was when the couple married.

"I mean, when I was young, I wrote a list of things I wanted in a mate, you know, the whole thing as a girl growing up, and he fit. I mean, our first date was -- I asked him all those questions, and he fit all those things," Erin Girouex said.

The couple has four small children together -- two of them foster kids. Erin Girouex said he was a great father, a great person, and a great leader at Victory Fellowship Church.

That was until Erin Girouex's parents told her 13 months ago that her husband had sexual encounters with teenage boys. Her parents learned of what happened from the elders at Victory Fellowship Church.

"It just turned my world upside-down," said Erin Girouex.

Erin Girouex said she never expected to hear that sort of news. Nor did the families of Brent Girouex's victims.

"We were clueless," said Emily Baker, the wife of one of the victims.

Given what happened, Baker and Erin Girouex said Girouex should have been sentenced to prison.

"I think what victims need in any situation is a sense of justice, and we didn't have a sense of justice (Wednesday)," Baker said.

"If that's what it takes to get him away from people, then yes," said Erin Girouex. "I don't want (my children) anywhere near him."

Erin Girouex said that what they want is for other victims of sexual misconduct to stand up and speak out before it's too late.

"We just encourage other victims that you have what it takes, you have a voice, and to come forward and to report what's happened so it doesn't happen again," Baker said.

Erin Girouex is filing for divorce, but the hang-up is that her husband wants to see their children.

Up until Wednesday, Erin Girouex said her husband had twice-a-month court-ordered visits supervised by his own mother.