South OC Church Employee Who Filmed Underage Congregants Sentenced

LAGUNA HILLS, CA — A former employee of an Orange County church who was convicted of secretly recording underage congregants was sentenced this week to 40 years in prison.

San Juan Capistrano resident Jacob Melvin Hart, 46, pleaded guilty to attempted production of visual depictions involving sexual exploitation of a minor and transportation of visual depictions involving the sexual exploitation of minors, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Hart was arrested after child pornography was found on his electronic devices during an inspection at Miami International Airport from a mission trip to Haiti.

The child pornography case has left Crossline Community Church, Hart's place of previous employment, embroiled in lawsuits that alleged Hart gave juvenile congregants computers equipped with software that allowed him to secretly them nude in their bathrooms.