Church Volunteer Performing Oral Sex On 3-Year-Old Caught On Camera

A South Carolina man was recently arrested after he was allegedly caught on surveillance camera sexually abusing a three-year-old boy at Newspring Church in North Charleston.

Jacop Robert Lee Hazlett, 28, was a volunteer at the church and was assigned to supervise a group of children, aged three and five, on Nov. 25. According to the affidavit, Hazlett escorted the victim from his classroom to the washroom. He was helping him get cleaned up after using the toilet when he took advantage of the young boy and performed oral sex on him, NBC-affiliated Wis TV reported.

When the church staff became aware of Hazlett’s actions the next day, while viewing the surveillance clips, they immediately alerted the authorities and sought their help in keeping the suspect off the church property. Following his arrest, Hazlett was charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor.

On Wednesday, Hazlett was denied bond by a judge. On the same day, the church issued an extensive statement regarding the incident to families of children in their preschool ministry.

“Once we were made aware, we reviewed video footage from the past 90 days in which Hazlett served as a Kidspring volunteer. In the videos, it appears there was inappropriate conduct by Hazlett. We immediately took steps to prevent Hazlett from volunteering in any capacity at our church in the future and, at the same time, we reported this information to law enforcement. NewSpring is fully cooperating with law enforcement’s ongoing investigation,” a part of the statement read.

It further added Hazlett was approved to volunteer in the ministry only in March after all the background checks and the suspect had met all the standards required for the role.

“As a part of NewSpring’s child safety and security program, we perform criminal background checks, interview each potential volunteer candidate one-on-one, and provide detailed training for volunteers serving with children of all ages. Our background check includes verification of Social Security number, address history, National Criminal Database Search, National Sex Offender Search, and re-verification of no records of criminal convictions or use of aliases. Hazlett successfully completed our volunteer screening process before he was allowed to volunteer,” the statement added.

The church’s “safety and security program” included installing surveillance cameras in the rooms of the children enrolled in the KidSpring program, NewSpring’s ministry for children up to fifth grade. However, there were no cameras inside washrooms, Newspring spokesperson Suzanne Swift confirmed, adding the suspect was caught because the bathroom door was ajar when he was allegedly carrying out the abuse.

Police are currently trying to determine if any other child was victimized by Hazlett. The church urged anyone who believed he or she had inappropriate interactions with the suspect to call North Charleston Police Department at 843-740-2521 or Charleston Campus Pastor at 803-413-8422.

If convicted, Hazlett could be facing 25 years to life in prison. Also, he might be denied any chances of parole or probation under the charge, according to local outlet Post And Courier.