A Staunton church leader has been arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated sexual battery involving a 10-year-old girl.
Steven Bruce Joplin, 59, of 448 Cherry Grove Road, Middlebrook, was arrested on Friday, Staunton Police Department spokeswoman Lisa Klein told The Augusta Free Press.
The incidents alleged to have involved Joplin, the director of Christian Education at Christ United Methodist Church, date to a period between July 26 and Aug. 12. A police report was filed on Aug. 14, Klein said.
The department waited to release the information to the general public until today to give police time to make contact with the victim’s family regarding the arrest, Klein said.
According to a biography of Joplin that was listed on the church’s website and has since been removed, Joplin had served as the Staunton District Youth Coordinator for the past eight years and was the youth director at Trinity United Methodist Church and Greenville United Methodist Church prior to that.
According to the bio, which we accessed through a cached version available on Google, Joplin’s job responsibilities included “implementing Christian Education programs and activities for tweens, youth, and youth adults.”
The bio also offered that Joplin has two children.
Joplin was incarcerated in the Middle River Regional Jail in Verona. He is scheduled for a 1 p.m. hearing in Staunton Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.
Klein said the investigation into the matter is continuing and that further charges are anticipated.
– Story by Chris Graham
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