Jordan Webb faces up to 32 years behind bars for the heinous crime
Hemant Mehta

Today in #NotADragQueen, a Christian missionary will be heading to jail after being found guilty of sexually abusing a four-year-old family member and infecting her with gonorrhea.

30-year-old Jordan Webb could spend the next 32 years behind bars. That’s the good news. The bad news is… every single detail in this case.

Just over a year ago, Webb was arrested by the Webster County Sheriff’s Office in Iowa after an investigation spurred by “health concerns involving a juvenile.” He was found in a home owned by Harvest Baptist Church (an independent fundamentalist Baptist church) and used for a church-run college. He wasn’t there by chance. Webb spent the past few years working for the church in St. Lucia, a Caribbean island, as a missionary attempting to win new Christian converts. He and his wife had only recently returned from the island before his arrest.

Here’s the damning part: After the investigation found that Webb had gonorrhea (a sexually transmitted disease) he explained it away by admitting he had repeatedly been unfaithful to his wife. A sin. Something that could be forgiven.

But then, days later, investigators learned that a four-year-old girl who was with him on the island was also diagnosed with gonorrhea. (The exact relationship between the two is not clear.)

During the trial, Webb’s lawyer tried to write that off as a mere coincidence, blaming the diagnosis on the two of them using the same towel, or her going swimming, or him cleaning up after she used the toilet… even though gonorrhea is almost always spread through sexual contact and not air droplets.

The jury didn’t buy it. There was enough evidence they heard that convinced them the two diagnoses were connected.

After just two and a half hours of deliberation, they announced their verdict on Friday: Webb was guilty of sexual abuse with someone under 12, incest, and child endangerment. This was guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Webb will not be eligible for bond. His sentencing will take place on June 5.

According to the Des Moines Register, Harvest Baptist Church not only helped Webb pay his legal expenses, Pastor Marvin Smith IV wrote a letter calling for Webb’s pre-trial release. (He was allowed to go free on a $75,000 bond before the trial.)

Hell, you can still see a promotional video on YouTube urging people to donate to the church so Webb and his wife can convert people in St. Lucia:

Reporter Julie Roys also points out that the same church has been in the news before for harboring a convicted sex offender:

In 2020, Your Fort Dodge reported that Cameron Shane Giovanelli, a former pastor of an IFB church in Maryland who’d been convicted of a 4th degree sexual offense and 2nd degree assault, was living in Fort Dodge and attending Harvest.

The media outlet said it possessed photos “that plainly show Giovanelli engaged in activities with Harvest, that include singing in their choir.”

Plainly indeed.

Forgiveness is one thing. Giving a sex predator access to church members (including children) is another. As of this writing, there’s no public apology from the church. There’s no acknowledgment from the church that Webb was ever a member, much less a missionary. There’s certainly no statement about how the church will make sure no predator is ever in their presence or how members, including children, will be protected from adults in the future.

But all their sermons about the dangers of sin are still up on YouTube.