PLOVER (WI)
WSAW [Wausau, WI]
August 10, 2022
By Heather Poltrock and Emily Davies
Criminal charges have now been filed in Portage County against a former youth pastor.
Jordan Huffman, 51, is expected to be charged with eight counts including first-degree sexual assault of a child, child enticement and contributing to the delinquency of a child. Huffman was arrested Aug. 9 in Florida, where he is currently living. He has a hearing in Florida on Aug. 24.
Court documents state the alleged victim said the crimes began in 2017 when the victim was 12 years old. Authorities were told Huffman was working as a youth pastor at Woodlands Church in Plover when he was contacted to mentor the victim. The incidents were reported by the alleged victim’s father in June. Court documents stated the assaults happened more than a dozen times over a two-year span.
The alleged victim stated that nothing sexual in nature had occurred at Woodlands Church, but that some assaults happened in Huffman’s office at his next place of employment, Forest Lakes District in Stevens Point. The district is affiliated with the national Evangelical Free Church of America. EFCA is organized into districts around the country and Woodlands Church is part of the Forest Lakes District, which also includes churches in Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Woodlands Church said in a statement Thursday that it learned about the victim’s experience on June 16, about a week before Plover Police, according to court records. It added it has been cooperating with law enforcement and “we are heartbroken and grieving and have been doing everything we can to support the victim and his family.”
7 Investigates became aware of separate allegations against Huffman last summer and connected with the same organizations involved last year. None of those organizations would agree to on-camera interviews or phone conversations but would communicate through email. Those allegations were made by two different people.
History of allegations and ministry
According to a statement from the now-former executive director of Woodlands Church, Bill Horvath, Huffman served as a youth pastor with the church for 17 years and took a new role with the Forest Lakes District in 2020.
Two church members shared their experiences with Huffman with Woodland Church leadership at the beginning of 2021, around February. The church told 7 Investigates each of them talked about a single incident where Huffman sexually abused them when they were teenagers while in the student ministry program about 20-25 years ago. At the time, Huffman was an adult volunteer leader in the program and was attending seminary school.
Horvath said Huffman confirmed what the victims had told them. The victims said the abuse did not happen at the church or during church events.
While the church is in Plover, Huffman lived in Stevens Point at the time, so the church reported the incidents to the Stevens Point Police Department and Portage County Human Services. Then-Lt. Dana Williams with the police department confirmed that the church first filed a complaint with the department on Feb. 10, 2021 and that it was part of the church’s protocol to contact law enforcement in this situation. She also confirmed that both victims did not want to press charges.
Following the accusations and Huffman’s confession to church leaders, Horvath told 7 Investigates the church contracted an agency called GRACE during the summer of 2021 to do an independent investigation. Horvath said they had two goals in mind: “1) To give the opportunity for other victims, if there are any, to come forward and share their story and to receive help and support. 2) To assess the safety standards and procedures currently in place in our ministry to make sure that we are doing everything we can to create an environment of safety for those in and outside our ministries.”
The executive director, Pete Singer, declined an interview about the investigation and the organization in August of last year as the investigation was ongoing. However, to describe the organization he said, “we seek to empower the Christian faith community to better recognize, prevent, and respond to multiple forms of abuse. We seek to do so in a way that honors and empowers survivors, facilitates justice, and helps faith communities to apply Biblical and trauma-informed principles.”
GRACE staff asked church members to fill out a confidential survey. According to Horvath, those responses were sent directly back to GRACE.
Horvath retired in May. Senior Pastor, Brian Berg provided an updated version of Horvath’s statement on Thursday. In it, he states the GRACE investigation finished in January and the results were shared with the congregation.
“The report detailed multiple instances of inappropriate interactions between Jordan Huffman and students but no additional victims of sexual abuse were identified,” it stated. 7 Investigates reached out with more questions but received a response that church leadership will be out until next week.
According to EFCA, Huffman began his new role as associate superintendent at Forest Lake District on July 1, 2020. EFCA’s executive director, Greg Strand, told 7 Investigates in an email last year that they first learned about the first set of allegations on Feb. 18, 2021. At that time, Strand said Huffman was placed under discipline, resulting in the loss of the ordination certificate in the EFCA,” and is not eligible to have the certification restored. Strand further stated Huffman is no longer involved in ministry work through any EFCA church, including one near his new home in Florida. Huffman moved to Florida in July, 2021.
“The EFCA is heart-broken this incident occurred by a volunteer at an EFC church,” Strand stated. “We grieve with and pray for the victims who have been abused.”
7 Investigates reached out to Strand again in light of the more recent case but has not heard back Friday.
7 Investigates attempted to reach Huffman by phone last summer, but could not find a phone number that was in working order. 7 Investigates’ Emily Davies sent Huffman a letter in August of last year but did not hear back.
Full statements
Former Executive Director Bill Horvath, released this statement to 7 Investigates on Aug. 5, 2021.
Woodlands Church Statement
It came to light in early 2021 that one of our former youth pastors sexually abused two teenage minors 20-25 years ago while he served as an adult volunteer leader in our Student Ministries program. These events happened prior to this individual attending seminary and later becoming one of our pastors. Woodlands Church first learned of these events when each victim shared their experience with church leadership earlier this year. The individual himself has confirmed that these two events occurred. We are grieving and heartbroken over this.
In each case the following are true:
1) There was a single incident of abuse and it happened 20-25 years ago.
2) Police, social services, and the congregation were told about these events.
3) The victim is currently not planning to press charges.
4) The abuse did not happen on church property or at a church event.
Woodlands has contracted with GRACE (netgrace.org), an organization with extensive experience in these matters, to conduct an independent investigation with two goals:
1) To give the opportunity for other victims, if there are any, to come forward and share their story and to receive help and support.
2) To assess the safety standards and procedures currently in place in our ministry to make sure that we are doing everything we can to create an environment of safety for those in and outside our ministries.
The congregation has been asked to participate in a confidential survey, with responses sent directly to GRACE, to facilitate the achievement of these goals. The investigation is in its early stages, and is expected to last six months.
The individual served for 17 years as one of our youth pastors. He left employment with Woodlands in July of 2020 to pursue another career. He is no longer in a ministry position, or a part of our church, and does not live in Wisconsin.
Ftter is continuing to be independently investigated by GRACE, this press release communication will be the only communication from Woodlands Church on this matter and we will have no further comment at this time.
Senior Pastor Brian Berg released this statement to 7 Investigates on Aug. 11, 2022.
Woodlands Church Statement
8/11/2022
It came to light in early 2021 for the first time, that one of our former youth pastors Jordan Huffman sexually abused two teenage minors 20-25 years ago while he served as an adult volunteer leader in our Student Ministries program. We have been grieved and heartbroken over this ever since we learned of it, and did everything we could to support the victims.
These events happened prior to Jordan Huffman attending seminary and later becoming one of our pastors. Woodlands Church first learned of these events when each victim shared their experience with church leadership in early 2021. Jordan confirmed that these two events occurred.
Jordan Huffman served for 17 years as one of our youth pastors. He left employment with Woodlands in July of 2020 to pursue another career with the Forest Lakes District. When these allegations came to light he was fired by that organization, and in July of 2021 moved to Florida.
In each of these two cases that came to light last year, the following are true:
1) There was a single incident of abuse and it happened 20-25 years ago.
2) Police, social services, and the congregation were told about these events.
3) The victims at that time decided not to press charges.
4) The abuse did not happen on church property or at a church event.
Woodlands contracted with GRACE last summer (netgrace.org), an organization with extensive experience in these matters, to conduct an independent investigation with two goals:
1) To give the opportunity for other victims to come forward and share their story and to receive help and support.
2) To assess the safety standards and procedures currently in place in our ministry to make sure that we are doing everything we can to create an environment of safety for those in and outside our ministries.
The congregation was asked to participate in a confidential survey, with responses sent directly to GRACE, to facilitate the achievement of these goals.
The investigation was completed in January of 2022, and the results shared with Woodlands church leadership, and then shared by church leadership with the congregation.
The report detailed multiple instances of inappropriate interactions between Jordan Huffman and students but no additional victims of sexual abuse were identified.
Woodlands church learned of the account of the current victim on June 16th. Once again we are heartbroken and grieving and have been doing everything we can to support the victim and his family.
We have been cooperating with law enforcement ever since we became aware of this new victim, and providing any and all information they requested. We were asked by law enforcement to keep the information regarding a new victim confidential to preserve and protect the integrity of the investigation, until Jordan Huffman was in custody, and we did so. We are aware of the multiple charges brought against Jordan Huffman and of his arrest. Because this is an ongoing criminal case, this will be the only statement that we will issue at this time.