LOUISIANA
The Times-Picayune

By Emily Lane, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

Former First Baptist Church of New Orleans youth minister Jonathan Bailey was sentenced Monday (Aug. 8) to serve 10 years in prison after admitting to sexual misconduct involving a member of the church who was 13 when the abuse began.

Prosecutor Bonycle Thornton read a statement in court from the young woman who Bailey victimized, describing how while serving then as her youth minister Bailey “worked hard to get me to trust him instead of my family.”

The victim’s father testified that the family agreed to the plea deal despite the notion that no sentence seemed long enough, in order to prevent further abuse and protect his daughter.

Bailey pleaded guilty to six counts of molestation, five counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile and one count of obstruction of justice. Though he was sentenced to 27 years total,…