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Police: Sexual Assault Also Happened At Former Youth Pastor's Home

PARKER, Colo. (CBS4) - Parker police investigators release more information about a former youth pastor accused of sexually assaulting juveniles.

They say Denver Police arrested 35-year-old Joshua Clemons on Tuesday on one charge of sexual assault of a child by one in a position of trust.

Joshua Clemons from DPD
Joshua Clemons (credit: Denver Police)

Parker police filed two more of the same charges.

Investigators say Clemons was a youth pastor at Crossroads Community Church in Parker from 2008 through September of 2015.

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Crossroads Community Church (credit: CBS)

In that time, investigators say all three incidents involve "members of the youth program" which was led by Clemons.

Investigators also say some of the incidents took place at his home in Denver.

If you have any information that you feel may be helpful to the investigation, please contact Parker Police Detective Wilson at 303-805-6561 or bwilson@parkeronline.org.

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(credit: CBS)

The Crossroads Community Church issued this statement:

"Today, a former youth pastor who was employed from 2006 to 2015 at Crossroads Community Church was arrested on charges related to alleged sexual abuse of three then-minor girls during his tenure at our church.

This arrest stems from allegations revealed to Crossroads on February 1, 2018, which we immediately reported to local law enforcement authorities.

Crossroads Community Church takes any inappropriate behavior with our young members very seriously.

We are heartbroken and grieve with those who are victims of sexual assault and their families.

The individual facing charges resigned from Crossroads in 2015, citing work-related stress.

In December 2016, the Crossroads Leadership Council was made aware that after he left church employment, he had apparently engaged in a relationship with an 18-year-old female who was formerly a member of his youth group.

Crossroads' leadership immediately reported this information to local law enforcement, though no laws were alleged to have been broken.

On February 1, 2018, the mother of the young lady we learned about in 2016 contacted us to express her concern that this former youth pastor was being hired by another church in a position to oversee young people. She further informed us that she had recently learned her daughter's relationship with this man had begun while her daughter was a minor, and that they believed there were other possible victims.

The same day the mother made us aware of these alleged criminal offenses, we immediately reported the new information to local law enforcement authorities and continue to fully cooperate with them during this investigation.

We have been praying for healing and restoration for any victims, known and unknown, and we ask our entire community to do the same.

We encourage anyone with information regarding potential criminal activity, especially any  victims, to contact law enforcement immediately.

The Parker Police Department may be reached at 303.841.9800, and the Colorado Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline is (844) CO-4-KIDS, or 844.264.5437.

For many years, Crossroads Community Church has had protocols in place including a national background check that is performed on all employees when they are hired and again every two years to try to ensure this would not happen. We also have written expectations of employees that include standards of conduct as safeguards for both our employees and those under their care. In light of this situation, we are conducting a thorough review of our employment procedures and policies to ensure every safeguard is in place to protect anyone, especially young people, from any predatory behavior on our campus or at the hands of any employees or volunteers. We will remain vigilant in our efforts to prevent such behavior, and swift and firm in dealing with any situation known to us."

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