Loudoun County Baptist church camp volunteer solicited sex from juvenile, police say
STERLING, Va. - A summer church camp volunteer in Loudoun County has been arrested after police said he solicited sex from a juvenile he met at camp last summer.
Loudoun County police said 19-year-old Richard N. Hearns of Ashburn was a volunteer at the Oak Grove Baptist Church Summer Camp in Sterling where he met the alleged victim during the summer of 2016.
Officers said Hearns solicited the victim via cellphone in September of last year.
Investigators said they were made aware of the situation in July of this year after they said new allegations were reported while Hearns continued to work as a volunteer at the camp.
Detectives said they believe there may be more victims who they have not yet identified.
"Anyone that was a part of this Baptist church camp that occurred in Sterling last year or this year who feel that their kids may possibly be a victim as well, we need them to come forward to see if there's anything that we need to know about," Loudoun County Sheriff Michael Chapman said.
Oak Grove Baptist Church Summer Camp told FOX 5 Hearns is no longer volunteering at the camp.
"Richard is just one of our youths that volunteered with us," Oak Grove Baptist Church Summer Camp Joanne Brooks said. "All I can tell you is that this is still under investigation and we're praying for the families that are involved."
Hearns was charged on Friday with proposing a sexual act by a communications system to a victim under the age of 15. The latest arrests report indicated Hearns was still behind bars.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office's Special Victim's Unit at (703) 777-0475.