After admitting to the act of molesting a teenage girl, a former Texas clergyman of a Southern Baptist church was sentenced to 17 years in jail.
According to the Christian Post, Stephen Bratton, 46, was previously the pastor of The Grace Family Baptist Church.
On Tuesday, the Harris County District Attorney's Office confirmed that District Judge Hazel Jones sentenced him to 17 years in jail for his crime.
Stephen Bratton, age 46 was convicted & sentenced to 17 yrs for Agg. Sex. Assault of a Child. We are grateful to ADA Brett Batchelor who worked securing this conviction & ensuring that this individual is kept off our streets & away from our children. https://t.co/WFfdWqmo1m pic.twitter.com/l3pOpiV7az
"” Harris County DA (@HarrisCountyDAO) August 10, 2021
Bratton had initially admitted his misdeeds to church officials and in February pled guilty to the sexual abuse of a minor under 14 years of age, the District Attorney's Office said.
"This man, who had risen to a position of authority in the church, turned a child into a victim and violated his community's trust. The victim and his community deserved, and got, justice," said Kim Ogg, District Attorney of Harris, as cited.
According to Click2houston, Bratton was charged with recurrent sexual assault of a minor in 2019, starting when the unidentified victim was 13 and lasting until she reached 18 in 2018.
The Grace Family Baptist Church told Click2Houston in 2019 that Bratton had resigned from his post as a pastor after he confessed his misconduct to other pastors Erin Frye and Aaron Wright on the 16th of May.
Following that, the pastors promptly reported Bratton to the police.
"This is the first time this had been brought to the attention of the pastors. This activity is wrong according to Biblical and civil law and the church condemns the behavior as abhorrent," reads the church's statement.
The statement added that Bratton was officially excommunicated on May 19 and is no longer regarded a member of the congregation.
The associate district attorney who prosecuted the case, Brett Batchelor, said it is essential for victims to get justice in instances like this, reports ABC13.
"We need to protect the community and protect future victims," added Batchelor. "It's also a big part of the victim's healing process."
More about Bratton
According to Heavy, Bratton, a father of seven children, was a prominent supporter of a measure that would have banned abortions in Texas and threatened women with murder if they underwent the operation.
In April, he testified in favor of the bill, telling legislators, "Whoever authorizes or commits murder is guilty. They're guilty already in a court that is far more weighty than what is here in Texas."
But, despite professing to be a devout champion of life, Bratton was also accused of abusing a young relative from 2013 to 2015.
From 2008 until 2019, he served as pastor at Grace Family Baptist Church and was a prominent member in the local Southern Baptist community.
Bratton was able to post $50,000 bail at the time. Nonetheless, officials have imposed a temporary restraining order barring Bratton from visiting his wife or children. He and his wife have 7 kids.
In addition to having his name removed from the church's website, Bratton has also reportedly erased all of his social media pages.
Similarly, Grace Family Baptist Church also removed its Instagram and Twitter accounts, shortly after the incident.
