Former youth minister charged with sexual abuse of minors
A former youth minister for a Northern Virginia church was arrested on Sep. 15 and charged with “enticement of minors for illegal sexual activity and traveling with the intent to engage in illegal sexual activity with minors,” the Department of Justice reports.
Jeffrey Turner Taylor, 66, now of Milford, Ohio, served as a youth minister at The Falls Church Episcopal from 1990 to 1999 and director of adult discipleship from 1999 to 2002.
“Taylor allegedly sexually groomed multiple boys under the guise of spiritual guidance,” a DOJ press release states. “His alleged grooming behaviors included sexual horseplay, probing inquiries into the sexual secrets and habits of boys, and detailed revelations about his own sexual experiences.”
“On multiple occasions, Taylor traveled with the alleged intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct by taking boys with him to ministry events in another state or country. On several occasions, Taylor allegedly engaged or attempted to engage in sexual molestation of multiple boys,” the DOJ charges.
After leaving The Falls Church in 2002, Taylor became a youth director at two churches in Atlanta, where he allegedly continued to groom and sexually abuse boys.
Anyone who’s been victimized by Taylor is encouraged to contact the FBI.
Taylor is scheduled for arraignment in the federal court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Sept. 24. If convicted, he faces up to 105 years in prison.
In 2006, a majority of congregants at The Falls Church split from the Episcopal Diocese and formed The Falls Church Anglican, currently based at 6565 Arlington Blvd.
An investigation conducted for The Falls Church Anglican documents numerous incidents where Taylor took boys on “Coke dates” or had one-on-one conversations in his car about sex, masturbation, lust, and penis size, in some cases with boys as young as 11.
Several victimized boys reported Taylor had engaged in inappropriate physical activity with them, including wrestling, grinding, and “nut smacking.”
The investigation determined that the church leadership “had no knowledge or awareness that Taylor had engaged in acts of overt sexual abuse,” although there was general knowledge among some parents that “Taylor exhibited a strong proclivity for speaking with young men about lust and masturbation in the name of wanting to help them address sexual sin.”
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