Former Missionary Gets 25 Years for Abusing Preschooler
Investigation unearths Baptist church harboring sex offender with ministry past.
A judge has sentenced an Iowa man and former Christian missionary to 25 years in prison for sexual abuse after he reportedly infected a preschooler with gonorrhea.
Last week, Jordan Webb, aged 31, from Fort Dodge, Iowa, was convicted of second-degree sexual abuse, incest, and child endangerment against a four-year-old child.
District Court Judge Christopher Polking sentenced Webb to 25 years with the possibility for parole and completing a sex offender treatment program.
Webb was a missionary in the Caribbean island of St. Lucia from 2019 to February 2022. The “sending church” for his mission in St. Lucia was Harvest Baptist Church in Fort Dodge.
In early April 2022, the victim was diagnosed with gonorrhea. During the trial, prosecutors said Webb and the victim had both been diagnosed with the sexually transmitted disease (STD). The state alleged that Webb engaged in a sexual act with the victim, infecting her with the STD.
Webster County police arrested Webb later that month at the home of Cameron Giovanelli, a registered sex offender Webb knew from church. Investigators said Webb had also been driving Giovanelli’s car.
In 2020, Giovanelli was convicted of 4th-degree sexual offense and 2nd-degree assault in a Maryland court after a woman pressed charges saying he groomed and sexually abused her in 2007 while he was lead pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Maryland.
Giovanelli pastored Calvary Baptist from 2004-2014 before relocating to California and becoming president at Golden State Bible College.
Giovanelli moved to Fort Dodge and joined Harvest Baptist in 2020.
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At Webb’s initial bond hearing in May 2022, Marvin Smith IV, assistant pastor and missions director at Harvest Baptist Church, submitted a letter advocating for Webb and calling Giovanelli a “great man” who could keep Webb accountable.
Smith testified in court that Webb was not an active missionary for Harvest Baptist Church at his arrest.
When asked whether Webb’s break from missions was because of the allegations, Smith said it was because Webb had cheated on his wife.
“The moral standards that we hold for our missionaries, he did not uphold that moral standard,” Smith said.
In a text message conversation submitted into evidence by the state, Smith wrote to Webb, “I’m gonna need to write a check to you for the lawyer fee. Pastor said it will look better than the church being responsible for extra cost after the $25,000.”
Before Polking delivered the sentence, Webb had an opportunity to speak on his own behalf, and he maintained his innocence: “I still maintain that I did not do this.”
Webb plans to appeal the sentence, his defense attorney said.
Main photo: Jordan Webb
