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Last updated on Thursday, March 1, 2012
(Crawfordsville) - A Crawfordsville youth ministry volunteer was arrested Tuesday on charges of child molesting.
Jordan Roseboom, 24, was charged with five counts of child molesting, Class C felonies.
Rock Point Church Pastor Terry Thompson said his congregation is devastated and shocked that a trusted friend would allegedly commit sexual crimes against their children.
A parent of one of the alleged victims called church leaders Monday night, accusing Roseboom of molesting his or her child. Monday morning, the pastor met with the parent, contacted Indiana State Police and Child Protective Services before talking to Roseboom.
"(We) encouraged him to do the right thing which was to turn himself in, which he voluntarily accepted to do," said Thompson.
Roseboom served as a youth ministry volunteer at Rock Point for about two years. He worked with teens, about 100 of them every Sunday. So far, authorities have discovered five alleged victims, all boys under the age of 14.
Parents in Crawfordsville reacted to the news Wednesday night.
"It doesn't surprise me that it happened in the community. It happens in every community."
"I wonder shouldn't background checks be done on volunteers to help prevent this from happening?"
The church said it does conduct background checks on everyone working or volunteering there, but Thompson said Roseboom doesn't have a criminal past. Church leaders said they're counseling parents of alleged victims, and doing their best to put other parents at ease.
"We've used emails and a church meeting to try to tell them that, to give them some assurance that their children are not involved to our knowledge," said Thompson.
Roseboom is being held at the Montgomery County Jail on $6,000 bail. Authorities said as they investigate, more charges are possible.
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