'Predator' Minister Blackmailed Teen for Explicit Photos: Police

Montgomery County, Texas, is at the. center of a shocking case involving. [music] a trusted church leader. John. Paul Shept, a well-known worship. minister, is accused of exploiting a. minor, stealing private images, [music]. coercing explicit photos, and. threatening her with violence over. nearly a decade. The [music] allegations. reveal a chilling pattern of digital. manipulation. And we are going to break. down all of these unsettling [music]. details with Sheriff Chris Swanson, an. expert in human trafficking and child. exploitation investigations. Welcome to.

Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm. Jesse Weber. This [music] case out of Montgomery. County, Texas, has shaken an entire. church community. And it all starts with. a man that many people trusted. implicitly. We are talking about. 49-year-old John Paul Shepto. He was the. worship minister at First Montgomery. Baptist Church. This is a role that saw. him leading the congregation in song,

providing ministry to inmates at a. women's prison. But apparently based on. these allegations behind that facade of. faith, that alleged facade of faith, investigators say he's a predator. This. story broke when a young woman walked. into the constable's office with a. secret that she'd apparently kept for. years. According to a newly released. affidavit, it all started when she was. just 17 years old, a 17-year-old high. school student. She told detectives that. Shept, who she referred to as her uncle, had accessed her iCloud, stole a private.

photo, and then used it to blackmail her. for years, demanding more explicit. images. And the affidavit contains one. line that just reveals what we're. talking about, the nature of these. alleged threats. It states, "The. defendant then sent her a video. depicting someone being physically. assaulted accompanied by a statement. implying that he did not want that to. happen to her." So, to understand how. all of this came crashing down, you got. to look at the timeline here. Okay, so. the affidavit details a series of.

actions and revelations that unfolded. over nearly 10 years. And according to. the affidavit, this all started about. seven years ago. This victim, again, a. 17-year-old high school student at the. time, claims that John Shept accessed. her iCloud account and stole this. private nude photo that she had taken of. herself. He then allegedly sent that. photo back to her on Snapchat, called it. quote, "They're secret," and began. demanding more explicit images. That's. the claim. The court document states he. basically used fear to control her, even.

sending her a video, what I mentioned. before, of a physical assault with an. implied threat that he wouldn't want. that to happen to her. The victim. apparently told police this pattern. continued for years. According to an. affidavit, she claims that at a family. gathering at his home, Shept took her to. his white Apple desktop computer and. then showed her nude photos of other. young girls, some of them who she says. she recognized as his own daughter's. friends. She says when she got married. in 2020, the request stopped. But after.

her divorce in 2021, she says Shept. started all up again. She claimed she. felt she had to comply out of fear that. he would expose all of this to her. family. And so this supposedly continued. on until the case broke open on August. 19th, 2025 when the now 26-year-old. victim walked into the Montgomery County. Precinct 3 Constable's office and made a. formal report. This launched an. investigation by Constable Ryan Gable's. human trafficking and child exploitation.

unit. and the constable provided a. release on Facebook detailing the steps. in their investigation. And after. building their case, detectives they. moved in. September 26th, they executed. a search warrant at Shepto's home. He. wasn't there. They track him to the Dr. Lane Murray unit. This is a women's. prison at Gatesville, Texas. It's a. three-hour drive from Montgomery County. He was there apparently providing. ministry services to inmates. And with. help from state law enforcement, he was. arrested on the spot. He was booked in. the D Corel County Jail to await.

extradition. Now, the public backlash. was swift. Okay. The next day, September. 27th, the senior pastor of First. Montgomery Baptist Church, Chris Gober, sent a letter to the congregation. confirming that Shept was arrested and. that he was immediately removed from all. of his church duties. He wrote, and I. quote, "It is with a heavy heart that I. share this with you. John Sheptto, who. served as our worship minister, was. arrested about 24 hours ago on charges. related to child pornography. This is. now public and is being shared on social.

media. We immediately removed John from. all responsibilities at the church. He. did not have responsibilities overseeing. children in the church or school except. occasionally in a large group setting. with other adults. We will not cover up. sin and we will not excuse it. We will. fully cooperate with law enforcement and. trust the judicial process. And the. church provided two more updates as this. investigation developed. You have one on. September 29th where Pastor Gober shared. that the detective had retrieved Shept's.

church computer and informed them that. quote, "None of the alleged victims they. have identified have any connections to. our church or any of its ministries.". Then on October 7th, there was a new. development that emerged. The church. announced, quote, "There is a new. allegation against John from an adult. connected to our church. We are fully. cooperating with Detective Alvarez in. the Montgomery County Constable's office. for precinct 3, who is investigating the. case and have turned over what we know. to her." And the pastor reiterated that. no children associated with the church.

or the school have come forward and. identified themselves as victims in this. case. Now, if you're a fan of Cyber, if. you're a fan of what we do here at Law. and Crime, you might be wondering, how. do we get so many clips out to our. followers really, really quickly? Well, I'll give you a little secret. If you're. interested in the content creation game, we use a platform called Opus Clip. This. is an all-in-one AI editor that makes it. easier and faster to cut, create, and. upload videos across all social media. platforms through the power of AI Opus. Clip. It automatically generates B-roll, it cleans up audio, and it refframes.

your videos for any platform. It is so. easy to start using. I'm going to show. you how right now. All you got to do is. go to opus.pro/sidebar. You sign up, you upload a video, and in. just a few minutes, you will have tons. of perfectly edited clips ready to go. So whether you're making videos for Tik. Tok or shorts or Instagram reels, OpusClip is your one-stop shop for. getting your best content seen by more. viewers across all these platforms with. the press of just one button. And if. you're wondering how good the AI edited. videos are from Opus Clip, just look at. our content here at Law and Crime. Our. producers have used Opus to help us cut. and share clips of some of our biggest.

trials and we get them to you really, really fast. And look at Sidebar. We. know that our listeners have a lot of. opinions and ideas to share. And this is. the most powerful tool there is to help. you edit like a pro and grow your. audience. So give it a try for yourself. Go to opus.pro/sidebar. to start creating your own videos today. Okay. So I want to do a deep dive into. this affidavit. I want to get a deep. dive into this case. Let me bring on. again friend of the show. We love having. him on. Uh Sheriff Chris Swanson from. the Jese County Sheriff's Office. Uh. currently in Flint, Michigan. Um, I was.

a little disappointed cuz every time we. got Chris on, you never know where he's. going to be broadcasting from. Is it. London? Is it DC? Maybe Vegas. So, Chris, so happy to see you. Thanks for. taking the time as always. Yeah. Thank. you. >> So, from your experience leading human. trafficking and child exploitation. investigations, this case, this case, this suspect, what. stands out to you about it? >> He targeted the prey. This predator. started out with a theft and that is he.

went into her storage, went into the. cloud and pulled a picture for the sole. purpose to groom and sex store it. That's how this whole thing started. She. didn't present. He found her and then. sextor her. That's what stands out. >> And talk to me about the rise of digital. tools. On one hand, it provides more. opportunities for predators or alleged. predators to abuse, to commit crimes, but at the other hand, it it's it. provides more evidence for investigators.

and law enforcement. >> It it is and it also adds layers and. layers of complication because when we. get data, it used to be back we can. download a phone or a digital device in. a couple hours. Now you've got, you. know, terabytes of information that. we've needed to download, but also the. technology and the amount of digital. tools that are out there. That's how a. predator like this can use to tap into. someone's own account and pull pictures. So, it absolutely is a incredible tool,

but can also be used, like in this case, a weapon. One of the things that I I don't think. can be overstated is how difficult it is. for alleged victims to come forward um. in these kind of cases. And when you. think about what happened here, if all. these allegations are true, to come. forward, particularly against a person. of authority like this, somebody who's. well respected, maybe even loved and. adored in the community. Talk to us. about how difficult that is and how that. might complicate uh an investigation.

from your perspective. Well, I think. it's important for your viewers to know. that this is why we get inside the mind. of the predator because predators use. their positions many times as a gateway. to their prey. Whether it's law. enforcement, whether it's teaching, whether it's coaching, and in this case, the ministry. And I can tell you that a. lot of victims don't come forward for. one of two reasons. Number one, they. don't think people are going to believe. them. Or number two, they're embarrassed. thinking they did something. And that's.

what this predator used against the. victim. If you saw in the story and in. the affidavit that he sent other videos. and pictures to kind of try to. rationalize but also threaten if you. don't do this, this is what's going to. happen. And that's where the. complication comes because this went on. for years. Imagine the emotional. distress this poor victim went through. thinking that she did something wrong. when he was using it as a grooming. tactic. Is it tough investigating a case. when you're dealing with allegations. from years prior?

>> It makes it more difficult because you. have victims that have now matured. We. just had a case a year and a half ago. where our victims at the time they went. into adult education to be tested were. 16 17 years old and the administrator of. that adult education was using his. position of authority to have sex with. them in order to get them their GED. Well, by the time we found out, there's. been a number of schools that paid off. the uh the families in a civil case. By. the time I got my teeth into the.

criminal case, these victims are 28 29. years old. So, they have a whole new. life. I could not get victims to come. forward. And I had one come forward, but. during the exam, he didn't show up and. the case was dismissed. The longer it. goes, the absolute more difficult it is. This affidavit, which I want to get. into, paints a disturbing, highly. detailed picture of what detectives say. they uncovered. This includes text. messages, digital evidence, a timeline. that tracks this alleged abuse nearly a.

decade. So, I want to go through it with. you, Chris, and talk about what's new. Okay. So, according to this affidavit. that was filed by Detective Samantha. Alvarez, who we mentioned before, with. the Montgomery County Constable's. Office, Precinct 3, investigators. alleged the conduct dates all the way. back to May 1st, 2018. The document. reads, "On or about May 1st, 2018, Paul. John Shepto, the defendant, did then and. there intentionally or knowingly promote. visual material to a digital file of a. photo that contains multiple pictures of.

females. And one of the photos is of a. 17-year-old female minor that shows her. nude body and bare breast, including. below the top of a specific section of. the breast that visually depicted and. which the defendant knew visually. depicted a child who was younger than 18. years of age at the time the image of. the child was made. And look, while we. already knew that Shept was facing a. seconddegree felony charge for promotion. of child pornography, it's the newly. filed warrant that lays out for the. first time how detectives say he got.

that image in the first place because. the victim told investigators that she. believes Sheptto actually stole the. photo from her iCloud account using his. access to her family's digital files. According to the affidavit, she told. Detective Alvarez that Shepto had long. managed their taxes, and had access to. personal passwords, email accounts, social media credentials, allowing him. to get into her private photo gallery. And after apparently stealing the photo, allegedly stealing the photo, detectives.

say Shepto used it to coers her into. sending more. The affidavit states after. the defendant sent the image of the. victim, he told her that he wanted more. explicit images of her. The defendant. then sent her a video depicting someone. being physically assaulted, accompanied. by a statement implying that he did not. want that to happen to her. She told. investigators that she was terrified to. tell anyone what was happening, especially her parents. The affidavit. quotes, "Due to her parents' strong. religious beliefs, the victim was. concerned about how her parents would.

react to the fact that she had taken a. nude photo of herself." Chris, there's a. lot to break down here. Yeah, coming forward with your par to. your parents, your family, particularly. if these there's these kind of dynamics. or these rel religious dynamics. You. talked about it before. This is why some. abuse or alleged abuse um can stay under. the radar, can never be brought up. >> And I think it's important to also add. this word premeditation. This predator was premeditated, built a. relationship with the family, had inside.

information, locked eyes on this prey, the victim, and then used his. technology, his experience, his. knowledge to go in and pull an image, knowing that when he got the image, if. he'd have just kept it and did nothing, she'd have never known. But he sent it. to her as a bait. And that bait was not. I'm gonna get you rich, we're gonna be. famous, I'm gonna become uh your agent. He said, if you don't do this, this is. what's going to happen. That's what. extortion is. And predators define their.

own rules. Now you have a young victim. who's grown up in the faith-based. community, saved by grace, feels like. now she's shamed about doing something, and that's what he targets, and that's. what he uses as an his extortion. It's. very very common in the church setting. because of the the people that are there. as a churchgoer myself. I know the. mentality and I know she she felt that. way because he made her feel that way. >> And it's incredibly difficult again to. come forward. Just going back to.

something I mean we all have a digital. footprint. We're all putting everything. on, you know, not necessarily online but. you know your digital passwords, your. files, your email. You always wonder who. has access to it. You always wonder who. you're giving access to it. Not to sound. the alarm bells, but I mean, is this. something that's common that you see? You're entrusting somebody with this. information and they use it to commit a. crime. I mean, that's the allegation. They use it to exploit somebody. Do are. you seeing this? >> Yeah. Two ways to answer that. Number. one, don't ever take a photo or video of.

something that you don't want on the. front page of any publication. Rule. number one, whatever you text, whatever. you say, whatever you photo, whatever. you vid, just remember this. It's out. there. Even if it's only on your storage. device, even if it's it's only for your. eyes only or your loved one, nothing is. secure on a phone, no matter how we. slice it because people can get your. passwords, they can crack the code, you. could send it to somebody who's a friend. today, f tomorrow. But the second thing. I think is important is think of all the.

technology that we used to use, but we. never close those accounts. I mean, when. we do credit reports, we find credit. cards that we've taken out or credit. cards that we forgot we even had. Same. thing with email addresses or old. accounts on social media. You you got a. new Instagram account or a new Tik Tok. account, but you have this other one. when you're 18 and you post it on there, but you don't even remember the. password. All those things complicate. and there are experts that are out there. in the world of evil that look for those. exact opportunities to pull from those. accounts and use it against you.

>> Can can you tell us what the impact of. this is for somebody? the impact of. abuse like this, particularly if you're. talking about somebody so young as they. mature into adulthood. I, you know, I. wonder if you've stayed in touch with. these people uh who have gone through. this. I mean, what is that like? >> So ironic that you asked that because. just two weeks ago, we uh concluded a. case where the victim was 12 years old. and she was uh groomed by a 35-year-old. male who was two counties away and he.

broke into her friend circle and talked. as though he was a 12 or 13year-old. friend. and then convinced her to go to. a sidebar chat where he built a. relationship. So much so that he picked. her up from middle school and had. multiple [clears throat] sexual account. episodes. And when he was found outside. her bedroom window by the mother, that's. how the case broke. Fast forward, we. arrested him. We charged him. He he got. 15 years in prison. But let me tell you, the victim who's now a survivor asked me. to read her victim impact statement to.

the circuit court judge at his. sentencing. That's the first time in my. 33 years I've ever been asked to do. that. Here's why. Because she couldn't. say it, she could write it and she. believed and trusted in me and Ghost. The these individuals, these survivors, they need somebody to stand by them. This is not easy. We look at it many. times from our perspective. You know, we're, you know, 30, 40, 50 years old. We've been in the business. This is what. we do, Jesse. But those people that are.

impacted, this is the what they go to. bed with and what they wake up with. The. emotional heaviness, thinking that. what's going to happen, how are people. going to view me? These are things that. we and our viewers need to be very. sensitive to and that this isn't just a. a crime of of a lararseny. This isn't. just a stolen car. These are people's. lives. We need to restore them. We need. to give them their dignity back. We need. to give them their respect and. ultimately just embrace them. and the. fact that it's wrapped around a church. blanket is even more difficult.

>> It's a great point and it just. highlights again the incredible work. that you do for the community and like. you said the trust uh that you've been. building up. Um and you know I think. that's so important particularly in. these kinds kinds of cases. Um so I. appreciate you sharing that story. Um I. I want to talk a little bit more about. this digital trail. So this digital. trail that investigators say they have. been able to piece together and it says. a lot. So the affid the affidavit shows. that investigators ultimately found a.

detailed record of communications. between Shepto and the victim here, including messages where he appears to. pressure pressure her to respond. And as. for how they obtained these messages, the affidavit shows that after the. victim came forward in August, investigators obtained her full consent. to forensically extract her phone. And. according to the warrant, detectives. located these text messages and Snapchat. and Snapchat communications between the. victim and Sheptto's verified phone. number as well as a private account that. he allegedly operated under the name.

Zane. From there, investigators found an. escalating series of messages spanning. from November 2023 through September of. 2024. The affidavit reads November 27th, 2023, 9:53 p.m. The defendant. So, a few. things. I know you're ignoring me on the. other app, so reply there so I know you. got this message. And now that you read. it, you can delete here. No reply from. the victim. Then two weeks later, December 11th, 2023, the defendant.

apparently sent a meme that stated tick-. tock, tick- tock, and then again, no. reply from the victim. And detectives. say that this pattern continued for. months, repeated attempts to make. contact, often with these kind of subtle. alleged threats or reminders that he was. watching her. You go to February 2024, the tone had shifted. The affidavit. details, quote, "The defendant sent a. photo of what appeared to be a. screenshot from Snapchat of people who. viewed his story, which included the. victim, followed by, proof of ignoring,

how rude," followed with an upside down. smile. The defendant followed the above. message with a memo of, "You have 24. hours." There was no reply from the. victim. Few weeks later, another alleged. warning. February 26, 2024 at 40:09 p.m. The defendant, it means everything you. asked me to grab off the web is now back. on it. I won't be taking it down anymore. unless I am talked to. Now, Chris, you. know, in and of itself, it's going to be. very difficult for defense attorneys to. argue this didn't come from his devices,

let alone saying that he didn't send it. I mean, I've seen those defenses before, but you know, it become this digital. trail tells so much of the story. And. I'm curious from your perspective what. those messages say to you. Well, it's also important, I think, if. we go back that in order to have a. digital trail, you have to have an. investigator who has the heart and the. mind to want to learn how to follow a. digital trail to go to months and months. of intense training out of state,

usually from where their agencies are to. get the top-of-the-line equipment that. is so technical that when you. forensically download a phone, what. you're doing is you're just making a. digital copy because the original. evidence has to be there so it doesn't. impact the time stamp when every input. is made. So they take they make the. digital copy. Then they got to go. through and as I said before, Jesse, we're talking hours and hours and hours. of searching with keyword searches and. photo searches and video searches. Then. you got to validate each one of those. messages through timestamp because.

everything that we say when we log on to. a phone, when we check a picture out, when we send something, when we receive. something, all those are time and date. stamped. So investors have to validate. that that is actually from that. location, from that phone, from that. person. Fast forward. The reason why. digital footprinting is so important and. to have the right people is because it. tells a story that nobody can argue. The. only holes the defense can poke is was. this phone evidence tampered with by not. making a real digital copy? Where's the.

original evidence? That's all they're. going to try to do because the the. evidence on the phone speaks for itself. the messages from this predator, the. fact that he's trying to get into her. head. He's saying messages that are not. only passive aggressive, but they're. aggressive and she didn't respond. God. bless her because she didn't want to be. drawn into this trap. But think of the. emotional stress that she is going. through by looking at that message and. then she's got to go live normal life or. try to be a daughter to a parent or go. to church and sing in the choir that who.

knows if this guy was her choir. director. These are all those things. that digital evidence, it starts to. connect the dots. So, she's saying. what's happening, but it's backed up by. digital evidence, and that evidence. never goes away. It's like a house being. built, and you think by removing the. mailbox, the house doesn't exist. >> It's a it's a great point. Um, it's a. great point, and and and really, I'm. glad you elaborated on what efforts and. resources go into try to extracting. this. uh because this is key evidence. and this is the kind of strong evidence.

that you see in a case where it's. presented by prosecutors and that's what. may lead to a plea deal because there's. not do you want to take this to trial. Now, just taking a step step back. though, it's by the spring of 2024 that. these messages seemingly shifted back to. something a little bit more innocuous. There were discussions about her taxes. and family events, but the affidavit. shows that by October 11th, 2024, the. conversation once again turned explicit. Investigators claim that Shepto sent a. photo, a photo collage to be more. accurate, showing six young girls side.

by side with nude images of them, including the victim herself. And the. affidavit reads October 11, 2024 at 2:31. p.m. The defendant sent a photo. depicting six young girls with a side by. side of another photo of them exposing. their genitals. The photos also include. the names of the girls with one photo. identified as the victim accompanied by. her name alongside another photo showing. her face side by side. Chris, talk to me. about not only what you're taking away. from this um but also h I have to ask,

how are these images, this data properly. collected and preserved so that they can. never get out? >> Well, to your first point, when. predators are caught, rarely is it the. first time they they've ever acted out. It's just the first time they've been. caught. And in this case, I have no. doubts that this suspect, this predator. has done this for a long time. It's not. his first opportunity. But that image. itself, you're not going to get six. girls, and I haven't seen the photo, but.

you're not going to get six girls to. line up and take the photo. So, he used. technology to stream it all together, to. lace it all together, and then send it. for a specific purpose. And that. specific person is to create a breakdown. of that victim to once again send more. nudes, send more photos, send more. videos, or worse yet, meet him for the. physical act. That's what we see in. Ghost is it starts out online. It starts. with some chatter. It starts with some. banter. It goes highs and lows. You saw. that just in your last uh your last uh.

minute there when you said that it kind. of went back innocuous, you know, talking about things. He's testing the. waters to see if all right, is she still. there? Is she not? Did she break away? Did she not? And then went right back to. this aggressive uh social media content. Well, that photo, however he made it, once we track where that photo is, we. can track how it got there from what. source it was sent to, who in and what. kind of, you know, software he has to do. these kinds of of photoshopping. All.

that digital evidence is what. investigators are finding out. And then. you couple that with the confession. because that's really where the the the. the case comes closed is where you sit. that suspect down. You have all the. digital evidence and you go to me, you. say, "John, we're going to go from start. to finish and I'm telling you right now, you better tell the truth because this. digital evidence does not lie." And then. you couple that with a confession and. the case is closed. He's taking a plea. and going to prison. >> Chris, I want to talk to you about just. a couple more things before I let you go. uh that we've learned over the course of.

this investigation. So, according to the. Independent, uh, Shept, who was born. without arms, was this well-known. Christian music artist and worship. leader at First Montgomery Baptist. Church. He'd previously performed at. political events, including singing the. national anthem at a Donald Trump rally. in January of 2022. He later posted for. photos with the former president and his. son on social media. His final public. post that was made on September 19th. reads, "When you bring the word of God, truth, into the world, expect push. back." Why? Because men hate light and.

love darkness. The root of all evil. isn't found in politics, denominations, race, or culture. It lies in the human. heart. But that post only kind of. scratches the surface of who Shept. presented himself to be. Because. according to the Houston Chronicle, Shepto had been active in the worship. music industry for years. An archive. version of his now deleted website says. that he was born in New Jersey in 1976. with no arms and a shorter right leg. before later relocating to Montgomery, Texas. The Chronicle also unearthed.

earlier interviews showing how Shept's. disability shaped his public image. In a. 2009 profile, he said his Christian. faith helped him overcome feelings of. isolation, even led him to his wife. He. he told the outlet, "I started talking. to this girl on a Christian chat room. site on the internet. That's how I found. my wife, Stacy. I lied to her for about. a month. Then I told her everything. I. have no arms and one short leg. I live. with my parents. Had no clue what I. wanted to do in life. She didn't talk to. me for a week. Then she came back and. said, "I don't care what handicap you. have. I just think you're really sweet.

and I want to continue talking." Now, Chris, that's the part about this that. particular if you didn't have the. digital evidence. If it was just a he. said, she said, it might be difficult to. get a jury, it might be even difficult. to convince a jury uh that he did this. And yes, these are allegations at this. point. He's innocent till proven guilty. But I it from your experience where you. see alleged predators or convicted. predators in all forms of life, does it. ever shock you what you're seeing, who. the suspect is, what the height that.

they've reached to, and yet they're. accused of this? >> It does not shock me. And in this. particular case, you read a pretty. distinct background, but none of that. excuses predatory behavior. And none of. that brings the innocence of this victim. back. And I appreciate there's always. the other side. We're sensitive to that. When we do a ghost operation like last. night, arrested three individuals. These. individuals that came to our operation. to have sex with a minor, have families, have kids, have a circle, and they're.

impacted. That's why shows like yours. are so vital to get this message out. that if somebody has these inclinations. to get the help before you get caught. and destroy and blow up your whole. family and others along way along the. way. So we're not insensitive to people. who have tendencies that are that are. like what you just mentioned and people. have very difficult backgrounds but none. of that excuses the behavior that we're. on this show for and the victim who. needs to be a survivor. the level of.

people that we find. I mean, I go back. when you're reading this, you know, Jared from Subway. Remember when he was. the face of Subway and he's in prison. now. You look at Bill Cosby. You look at. these individuals that have done these. things for years, but they've created a. persona. Many times it's to camouflage. what they are deep down in their core. What I think was interesting is when I. read the statement of the church to the. members because I have in many times. experienced that churches want to use. church discipline on a criminal issue.

That can never happen. Yes, there is a. member who embarrassed and broke. biblical law should it be a Christian. faith. But the crimes in the church are. so important and the fact that that. church leadership said we're going to. fully cooperate with law enforcement. We. do not one bit excuse this kind of. behavior. And if there's anybody else. that needs to come forward. I thought. that that letter was well written. I've. not seen that in every church. investigation, but the church in. Montgomery, Texas, they did it right.

And now Shepto evases a seconddegree. felony charge of promotion of child. pornography that carries a potential. punishment. Our understanding is of two. to 20 years in prison. He remains in. jail awaiting his transfer to Montgomery. County to face the charges. and. detectives are urging anyone with. concerns or information regarding Shept. Talk to reach out to the number on the. screen you see there and request to. speak with a detective. Chris Swanson, thank you so much for coming on, taking. the time to break all this down and. again, I can't say this enough. Thank. you so much for the work that you are.

doing. It is so important, so valuable, and as you mentioned before, it is. building a lot of trust uh in the. community. >> Thank you. >> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us and as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should. get your podcasts. You can follow me on. X or Instagram. [music] I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time.