Ex-Arlington pastor sentenced for secretly recording children showering in his home
A former associate pastor at an Arlington church was sentenced to more than 24 years in federal prison on Monday for child exploitation.
Brett Jarad Monroe, 38, of Arlington, an ex-associate pastor at Heritage Baptist Church, was ordered to spend 293 months in federal prison for secretly recording a girl while she showered at his home and for sending and trading child pornography for years.
He confessed to secretly recording several other juveniles showering at his Arlington home, according to federal court documents.
Monroe had pleaded guilty in January to a federal charge of sexual exploitation of a child.
Monroe was arrested in December.
“No child should ever have to endure the pain of sexual exploitation,” said U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox in a Monday news release. “The allegations in this case are particularly disturbing due to the defendant’s employment at the time of the offense as a pastor in a position of trust.”
His arrest was part of a coordinated investigation with Homeland Security Investigations, a division of the U.S Department of Homeland Security, Arlington police said in a December news release.
Monroe served on the church staff of Heritage Baptist Church in Arlington for the past 11 years, according to a LinkedIn profile bearing his name.
“This individual’s actions were revolting, and the harm he caused to innocent children is devastating and forever lasting,” said Ryan L. Spradlin, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations Dallas in a Monday news release. “His conduct was particularly disturbing because hew as a trusted member of the community.”
The investigation began in May 2019 when a Kik employee flagged an image file that was later determined to have child pornography.
That image was tracked to Monroe. Federal agents served a search warrant at his home in December.
Initially, Monroe requested an attorney, but he later rescinded his right to an attorney.
During an interview with federal officials, Monroe admitted to trading child pornography and later shut down his account in 2019 to get away from his “addiction” to child porn, according to court documents.
But, he later created a new Kik account and resumed trading adult and child porn.
Monroe also admitted to using his cell phone to secretly record several children showering at his Arlington home, according to federal agents.
In December, Monroe’s name also appeared under a Google result for the Heritage Baptist Church website. The archived webpage said he was an associate pastor. But on the current “meet our staff” page on the site, Monroe’s name is absent.
This story was originally published June 2, 2020 at 11:18 AM.
