WYOMING
Billings Gazette

By MEGAN CASSIDY Casper Star-Tribune

CASPER, Wyo. — A former church janitor could spend nearly 20 years in jail after his second sex crime conviction in a decade.

James David Jaure is accused of multiple acts of molestation on young girls — some under 13 — while he was employed at Highland Park Church in Casper. Police allege Jaure allowed church members to believe he was a youth leader, which gained him access to the girls.

Jaure, 29, is listed under Wyoming’s Sex Offender Registry, but it is unclear by the police affidavit whether church employers were aware of this upon hiring him. According to the website, he was convicted on April 2, 2004 in Cheyenne for third-degree sexual assault.

Officials at the church were unavailable for comment late Thursday afternoon, and a witness listed in the affidavit declined to speak about the case.