A registered sex offender who was sentenced to prison in the 1980s for molesting boys he met through Christian youth work in Georgia was permitted to participate in ministry at a South Carolina church for decades.
Brookwood Church, a Southern Baptist institution in Simpsonville, South Carolina, recently disqualified Jerry Sidell from all service roles. Sidell had joined the church in 1999 and held various ministerial positions.
According to senior pastor Bryan Jones, speaking at a Thursday night meeting, Sidell had been "forthright" with Brookwood leaders about his past guilty pleas in Georgia for enticing a minor for indecent purposes and child molestation. Jones stated that the church implemented boundaries, including prohibiting Sidell from working with or being around children or student ministries, or entering their spaces.
Jones, who became senior pastor in late 2022, suggested he only recently learned of Sidell's registered sex offender status. Following this discovery, he informed Sidell that he could no longer perform with the church's adult musical band or be part of a small adult prayer group.
Brookwood has also introduced a new policy requiring any registered sex offender attending services to use a specific entrance, check in with security, and sit with a designated guard who will then escort them out after services.