Registered Sex Offender Allowed to Serve at South Carolina Church for Decades, Report Says

A registered sex offender was allowed to participate in ministry roles at a South Carolina church for decades before being disqualified from serving there in any capacity, according to a report by the Guardian.

The man, identified as Jerry Sidell, was sentenced to prison in the 1980s after telling authorities that he had molested several boys he met through his religious work with Christian youth in Georgia, the Guardian reported.

According to the report, Sidell later joined Brookwood Church, a Southern Baptist institution in Simpsonville, South Carolina, in 1999 and went on to fulfill various ministerial roles there over a period of decades.

The Guardian reported that Brookwood Church only recently disqualified Sidell from serving in the church in any capacity, though the report did not specify the exact date of that decision or detail what prompted it.

The Guardian's report did not include a response from Brookwood Church or from Sidell regarding the circumstances of his long-term involvement with the church despite his registered sex offender status.

This is a developing story and further details on the church's policies regarding background checks for volunteers and staff, as well as any response from church leadership, were not immediately available.