Church pastor accused of sexually abusing 3 women when they were children
The celebrated pastor of a Morgan Park neighborhood church and a former high-ranking Chicago Fire Department official was accused of grooming and fondling three women for sex when all three were still young girls.
Prosecutors said Jerry L. Jones Sr., 71, groped all three victims, touched himself in their presence and often made lewd sexual comments over the course of 26 years. The criminal case began after one of the victims wrote a lengthy Facebook post detailing the abuse.
Among the allegations against Jones — pastor of Apostolic Assembly Church of Lord Jesus Christ — is that he used Bible Scripture to convey his sexual desires and, in one case, used them to try to coerce two young sisters into “giving the defendant their virginities,” according to prosecutors.
Jones, who is also a second assistant presiding bishop of the Pentecostal Churches of the Apostolic Faith International, faces three counts of aggravated criminal sex abuse, a Class 2 felony.
During a Sunday bail hearing broadcast on YouTube, Jones’ attorneys denied the claims. “There are possibly retaliatory motives in bringing these allegations so many years after the alleged facts,” said defense attorney Tom Breen, who said his client wasn’t a flight risk.
Judge Charles Beach II agreed, ordering Jones released on $50,000 bail but barring him from having contact with the victims or anyone younger than 18.
One victim, now 21, began attending Jones’ church when she was 10, telling authorities that she was first groped by the pastor a year later. The victim accused Jones of using pre-church meetings as an opportunity to fondle and kiss her, pressing his body against hers and eventually asking her to send him nude photos of herself. “The defendant told (the victim) that he could not wait to have sex with her until she was 18,” prosecutors said.
When the victim was 17, she said she told two church officials about the abuse, one of them a minister, prosecutors said. But the church put Jones and the victim on a “‘restoration plan’ intended to punish both (the victim) for 84 days and (Jones) for 40 days, as well as to resolve the situation internally.”
Under the state’s Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, clergy members are required to alert law enforcement or child welfare officials about any suspected abuse. A request for comment left at the church Sunday afternoon wasn’t answered.
Jones was also accused of similar allegations against two relatives who were raised by Jones and his wife Laverne.
The sisters, now 30 and 34, told authorities that they didn’t want to come forward because they did not want to enter the child welfare system without guardianship. Eventually, one of the sisters wrote the lengthy post on Facebook, which the 21-year-old victim later read and contacted police to file a report.
The criminal charges come in stark contrast with Jones’ long career of service related to his ministry work and his nearly 30-year career with the Chicago Fire Department. He was also called “Chicago’s Firefighting Bishop,” in a December 1991 edition of Jet magazine. In 2005, Jones retired as the assistant fire commissioner and the department’s chief officer of diversity.
Jones was also involved in Pentecostal Churches of the Apostolic Faith, becoming the youngest bishop at the time of his consecration. In 1994, former U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds entered a House proclamation honoring Jones as “a true role model to our youth and community.” That same proclamation also praised Jones as a “former high school track star, a one time Karate Champion, a United States Army Veteran, he was the youngest Assistant Deputy Fire Commissioner in the History of the City of Chicago.”
Jones is expected to return to court Friday.
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