Jackson Gatlin pleads guilty to sexually assaulting teenage girl at Wynyard Church youth group

DULUTH — Jackson Gatlin, dressed in a dark suit with his hands cuffed behind his back, was escorted from the courtroom by authorities Wednesday morning after pleading guilty to felony-level criminal sexual conduct in a case in which numerous women have come forward with similar allegations. was sexually abused as a child while he was their youth leader at Vineyard Church.

As part of the deal, Gatlin pleaded guilty to one count of and in four other cases, Alford entered a guilty plea in which he maintains his innocence but admits there is enough evidence to find him guilty at trial. The courtroom on the third floor of the St. Louis County Courthouse was packed for the hearing, with several victims seated in a row. Gatlin, 36, will be sentenced at a separate hearing on November 25-26, with all pleas to be made at the first.

He will likely serve 13 years in prison and will be required to register as a sex offender.

Civil charges are expected to be filed soon against Gatlin – in addition to his father Michael Gatlin, who was the church’s senior pastor, his mother Brenda, who also held a leadership position, and the Vineyard Church in Duluth and the Vineyard. US, according to Spencer Kuvin, a Florida lawyer who represented victims Jeffrey Epstein and Bill Cosby. Each organization will receive 10 complaints: nine from victims and one from a mother whose daughter committed suicide.

“The church should be a place where people feel safe—a refuge where they can find God, practice their faith and find support in their community,” Kuvin said during a press conference after the hearing, sitting next to the victims in a conference room in the city center. law office. “Unfortunately, church has become a living hell for these young girls.”

Neither of Gatlin’s parents were in the courtroom Wednesday.

As part of Alford’s lawsuit, prosecutors reviewed each victim’s statements and testimony that might have been given during the trial. It showed how Gatlin, then in his early 20s, developed an intimacy with girls aged 11 to 16 that extended beyond just the church.

His text messages ranged from friendly to flirty and even sexual. He would take them into his bedroom in his family home, drive them around in his car, or make them sit next to him on the bus. He touched them or made them touch him. He tied their wrists or otherwise restrained them. He raped them and, on at least one occasion, laughed when they told him to stop.