How long will Hainesport pastor who used Snapchat to pose as teen girl spend in prison?
MOUNT HOLLY – A judge has ordered a 25-year prison term for a former youth pastor who posed online as a girl to coerce boys into making sexually explicit videos.
Sean Higgins, 32, also was a music leader at Harbor Baptist Church in Hainesport and a teacher at an affiliated private school when the incidents occurred in 2020, said the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office.
None of the charges involved church members or students at the school, the prosecutor’s office said.
It said the Palmyra man posed as a teenage girl named “Julie Miller” to establish a rapport with underage boys via Instagram and Snapchat.
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Higgins would suggest that they trade photos and would send the boys photos of an unidentified girl, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Youth pastor demanded explicit videos
After the boys provided naked photos to “Julie Miller,” Higgins would threaten to send the pictures to the victims’ friends on social media accounts.
In most cases, Higgins would then demand that the boys perform sexually explicit acts, which he recorded.
The prosecutor’s statement said victims would often beg Higgins to stop, but he would demand that they complete his instructions or risk release of embarrassing images to their friends.
Some victims contemplated suicide to get out from under Higgins’ demands, the prosecutor's statement said.
An investigation began in 2020 when a Berks County, Pa., youth contacted Snapchat with concerns over an exchange with Higgins.
Guilty plea to endangering charges
Higgins pleaded guilty earlier this year to four counts of endangering the welfare of children, with each count representing a separate victim.
He was not charged with having physical contact with his victims,.
Higgins, who’s been in custody since his arrest in October 2020, must serve more than 21 years of his term before becoming eligible for parole.
Higgins was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Christopher J. Garrenger.
Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email him at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Youth pastor at Harbor Baptist Church faces long prison term