Jacksonville church leader in jail on multiple youth sex charges dies before trial

A former Jacksonville church youth group leader and nurse awaiting trial on 16 counts of sexual battery has died, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

Gregory Scott Norton was 59 and scheduled for a pretrial hearing next week, court records show.

On Jan. 19 he was transported from the jail to a hospital due to a continuing medical issue and died Wednesday, the Sheriff's Office said. The Medical Examiner's Office will determine the cause.

Norton was originally taken into custody Sept. 23 on six counts of sexual battery stemming from incidents in 2002 and 2003. Additional victims and evidence led to 10 more counts of sexual battery on a victim 13 to 17 years old being added on Oct. 5, according to jail and court records. His bail was $6.5 million and he faced up to life in prison if convicted.

Norton had served at Oak Hill Church of the Nazarene and Westside Baptist Church and worked as a nurse at Baptist Health's Wolfson Children's Hospital, according to arrest documents. His last place of employment was listed as Cancer Specialists of North Florida.

The Sheriff's Office said it was made aware in August of allegations that a church member sexually battered a teenager years earlier and had met through church functions. During the investigation, the Sheriff's Office learned of a second potential victim of sexual molestation and arrested Norton at his home on Cedar Forest Drive on the Westside. More cases followed.

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One of the accusers advised not reporting it sooner for fear the "allegations would destroy the entire family" and came forward "after completing therapy and realizing the depravity of the abuse," according to an arrest report.

The report says the instances occurred in two of Norton's homes on Blackburn Road, two bakeries he owned on Appleton Avenue and Corinthian Avenue and various locations where they were in his vehicles. His wife and daughter were not home when they occurred on his property.

The arrest documents describe similar themes with Norton mentoring the boys, letting them sleep over, providing money, taking them to estate sales — a hobby of his — giving them massages and eventually leading to sexual activity they said occurred multiple times.

A history at Wolfson Children's Hospital

Part of the investigation also dealt with his time at Wolfson Children's Hospital where other complaints were discovered. Norton had been known to frequently stay after his shift for hours and visit with boy patients and was observed on more than one occasion doing something inappropriate, according to the evidence.

Investigators confirmed through the hospital that Norton had previously been counseled regarding similar incidents involving bathing, touching and massaging. One in 2003 resulted in an investigation that went as far as a judge but it was deemed unfounded.

In 2008 another formal complaint was made against Norton after a nurse saw him doing something with a juvenile patient while off-duty, according to the investigation. The behavior was described as inappropriate, and "The complaint was going to lead to his termination, so Norton elected to resign."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville church leader, nurse charged with rape dies before trial