Youth Pastor Pleads Guilty to Attempted Child Sex Crimes, Faces Up to Life in Prison
- BTW21
- 1 day ago
- 1 min read
ROANOKE, Va. (BTW21) A former youth pastor from North Carolina pleaded guilty Monday, December 9, in a federal case involving attempted child sex crimes, according to court records.
Jacob Ryan Barnett, 34, who previously served as a youth pastor at Catawba Valley Baptist Church, was arrested by FBI agents on August 6, 2025.
Investigators charged him with solicitation of sexual material from minors following a tip that he had attempted to groom a 15-year-old girl living in Michigan.
Court documents state that on Sunday, May 18, 2025, the teen received an online message from someone claiming to be a boy named “Jodie Johnson.”
Investigators later determined the account was associated with Barnett.
Barnett entered a guilty plea to the federal charges and now faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison.
The maximum penalty is life.
Sentencing has not yet been scheduled.