Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Evangelical, Pentecostal, and independent Winterset, Madison County, Iowa, USA · 2014

United States (2014): church youth coordinator's conviction for assaulting a sixteen-year-old group member affirmed

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

youth coordinator for two churches in the Winterset area

Organization

No organization assigned

Spiritual nexus

The victim was a youth-group member who approached Maxwell and his wife for mentorship after 'personal struggles'; the charged assault occurred in the church's 'downstairs youth room' during his role as youth coordinator, not in a domestic or family setting.

Pastoral or clerical authority

Evidence structure

Proceedings

2016-11-09 · conviction affirmed

Iowa Court of Appeals (State of Iowa v. Brian James Maxwell). Brian Maxwell, hired as youth coordinator for two churches in the Winterset area, was convicted following a bench trial of lascivious conduct with a minor after assaulting a sixteen-year-old member of his youth group inside the church's youth room. He was sentenced to one year in jail (120 days to serve, remainder suspended), two years' probation, and a ten-year special sentence under Iowa Code section 903B.2. The Court of Appeals affirmed.

Appellate history

2016

Affirmed (2016 WL 6636865).

Documented coercion mechanisms

youth-ministry mentorship authority over a congregant who had come to him for guidance

Primary record

Sources

official court judgment appellate judgment State v. Maxwell, No. 15-1392, 2016 WL 6636865 (Iowa Ct. App. Nov. 9, 2016).: The appellate opinion, retrieved via the CourtListener public CDN.

Related record

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