Former Arlington Pastor Sentenced To 24+ Years For Child Exploitation

CBSDFW
June 01, 2020

https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2020/06/01/former-arlington-pastor-brett-monroe-sentenced-child-exploitation/

A former Arlington pastor was sentenced to 24 years and five months in federal prison on Monday for sexual exploitation of a child.

Brett Jarad Monroe, 39, former associate pastor at Heritage Baptist Church in Arlington pleaded guilty in January to one count of sexual exploitation of a child.

“No child should ever have to endure the pain of sexual exploitation,” said U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox. “The allegations in this case are particularly disturbing due to the defendant’s employment at the time of the offense as a pastor in a position of trust. The United States Attorney’s Office along with law enforcement partners will use every available tool to identify, arrest, and hold child predators accountable.”

“This individual’s actions were revolting, and the harm he caused to innocent children is devastating and forever lasting. His conduct was particularly disturbing because he was a trusted member of the community,” said Ryan L. Spradlin, special agent in charge of HSI Dallas. “Protecting the most innocent members of our society is a top priority for HSI and we will never relent in our efforts to put monsters in disguise, like Monroe, where they belong – behind bars!”

Federal agents executed a search warrant at Monroe’s residence on December 11, 2019.

Monroe admitted to agents that he used his cellphone to create secret recordings of a minor female victim while she showered at his Arlington home.

According to court documents, Monroe converted the video into still images which he saved in an online storage account.

At sentencing, an agent testified that Monroe admitted to sending, receiving, and trading child pornography online for years to fuel his pornography addiction. He also confessed to surreptitiously recording multiple other minor victims showering in his residence.