Woodstock church youth leader charged with sexual abuse and manipulation of teen – Shaw Local

A former volunteer youth leader at a Woodstock church has been accused of sexually abusing a 16-year-old girl. Prosecutors say he touched and kissed the girl while driving in his car and in his home, where she sometimes slept.

Patrick O’Farrell, 57, of Woodstock, is charged with aggravated sexual abuse of a victim between the ages of 13 and 16, a Class 1 felony, along with solicitation of sexual battery and aggravated sexual abuse when the perpetrator is in a position of authority or trust, according to jail records and Judge Carl Metz, who ruled on O’Farrell’s detention hearing Tuesday.

The alleged abuse occurred between June and November 2022; the girl, whom Assistant District Attorney Anthony Marin described as “problematic,” sought support from O’Farrell and his wife and saw O’Farrell as a father figure, Marin said. At the time, O’Farrell was a volunteer youth leader at Grace Fellowship Church in Woodstock and met the girl through the church.

Marin described allegations that O’Farrell grabbed the girl’s hand, kissed her, touched her leg, made sexual remarks to her and made comments about her body. Marin said O’Farrell asked his wife if the girl could live with them.

During the last alleged incident, prosecutors said, the girl was sleeping in O’Farrell’s house and woke up when he touched her in her bed. When she asked him what he was doing, O’Farrell initially laughed and left, but then came back crying and begged her for forgiveness, Marin told the court.

That incident prompted the girl to report the alleged abuse, Marin said. And although she had hoped to put the situation behind her, she felt the church was not handling the situation, so she reported the alleged abuse again, which led to the criminal complaint and arrest warrant issued Monday, Marin said.

“He was a youth leader in the church,” Marin said. “He knew he shouldn’t be alone with children.”

The prosecutor said O’Farrell confessed to some of the alleged incidents to some church leaders and made “incriminating statements” to police. Between July and November 2022, cellphone records showed there were more than 380 phone conversations between O’Farrell and the girl, amounting to 247 hours of talk time, Marin said.

“She had a bad home life and he pretended to be a man of God,” Marin said. “She looked up to him as a father figure and he betrayed her. … He has a dangerous mind.”

Assistant Public Defender Gene Wilson, who was assigned to represent O’Farrell during the pretrial hearing, said O’Farrell should be released on conditions. He has no criminal history as of 2022 and no longer works with youth at the church, Wilson said. O’Farrell has also been unemployed since he was fired from his previous job.

Marin argued that O’Farrell should be held in the county jail before trial because he poses a danger to the community and can “change targets.” But Metz allowed the defendant to be released before trial because the state could not prove that O’Farrell poses a “present threat,” which is required under the SAFE-T Act to detain a defendant.

The judge said the state had proven that “the evidence clearly and overwhelmingly” O’Farrell committed these crimes. However, he could not take O’Farrell into custody under the provisions of the SAFE-T Act, the judge said.

Metz released O’Farrell on conditions including that he have no contact with the alleged victim, her address, Grace Fellowship Church or any other church. He also cannot have contact with anyone under the age of 18 and cannot go to any location where minors are present. He must wear a GPS device and stay at least 2 miles from the alleged victim’s address and the church. He must also undergo a sex offender evaluation within 21 days and surrender his passport.

When reached by phone at the church on Wednesday, Rev. Robbie Davis confirmed that O’Farrell was a volunteer youth leader at the church and is no longer part of the church. Davis declined further comment but said the church “takes the safety of children very seriously and we conduct background checks on all volunteers.”

O’Farrell is due back in court on August 14.