FALLS CHURCH, VA — A former youth minister at The Falls Church has been indicted on seven federal charges involving alleged sexual misconduct with minors, and investigators are asking anyone with information to contact the FBI.
Jeffrey Turner Taylor, 66, now of Milford, Ohio, was arrested Sept. 14 and made an initial court appearance that day, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. He served as a youth minister at The Falls Church from 1990 to 2002, prosecutors said.
The indictment, filed Sept. 10 in federal court in Alexandria, charges Taylor with three counts involving coercion and enticement, or attempted coercion and enticement, of minors to engage in illegal sexual activity. It also charges him with four counts of traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
Prosecutors say Taylor used spiritual guidance as a pretext to sexually groom multiple boys. According to the U.S. attorney's office, the behavior included asking boys about their sexual experiences and habits and discussing his own sexual experiences.
Taylor also took boys to ministry events in other states or countries with the intent of engaging in illegal sexual conduct, prosecutors said. On several occasions, authorities say he molested or attempted to molest boys.
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The indictment's three enticement counts concern three unnamed minors. Two counts involve conduct between January 1998 and January 2002; the third occurred between September 1994 and September 2000, prosecutors said. The four travel counts concern alleged conduct between 1998 and 2002.
The U.S. attorney's office also said Taylor served as a youth minister at two churches in Atlanta, where they say he groomed and sexually abused a boy in his ministry. Prosecutors said the grooming and abuse known to investigators spanned at least 1990 through 2008.
Taylor is scheduled for arraignment Sept. 24 in the Eastern District of Virginia, according to the U.S. attorney's office. Prosecutors said he faces up to 105 years in prison if convicted, with any sentence to be determined by a federal judge.
The charges are allegations and have not been proven in court.
Anyone who may have been a victim of Taylor or has information not yet provided to investigators is encouraged to contact the FBI Washington Field Office through its Jeffrey Taylor investigation page.
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