Jordan Dee Andrew Webb, a former Christian missionary, appears in a mugshot from April 2022. (Webster County Sheriff’s Office)
An Iowa man and former Christian missionary has been sentenced to spend more than two decades in prison for sexually abusing a child under the age of 12 who contracted gonorrhea from the abuse.
Jordan Dee Andrew Webb, 31, hails from the city of Fort Dodge, which is located along the Des Moines River, roughly 100 miles due north of Des Moines itself. In late April, he was found guilty, by a Webster County jury on one count each of sexual abuse with persons under the age of 12 in the second degree, incest, and child endangerment.
On Friday, District Court Judge Christopher Polking sentenced the onetime Baptist evangelist to 25 years in prison for the sexual abuse charge, five years in prison for the incest charge, and two years in prison for the child endangerment charge. Due to each of the charges stemming from the same offense, the judge said, each of the sentences would be served concurrently – or all at the same time, according to the Messenger, the local daily newspaper in Fort Dodge.
Polking allowed for the possibility of parole after serving at least 70 percent, or 17-and-a-half years, of the sentence – and the successful completion of a sex offender treatment program.
“The state is pleased with the outcome and sentence in this matter,” Assistant Webster County Attorney Bailey Taylor told the paper. “We’d like to thank law enforcement, medical professionals involved and the Webster County community’s help to ensure justice in this matter.”
The victim’s name is not being reported by any known media outlets; she has been identified only as “Jane Doe.”
Webb was arrested in late April 2022 by the Webster County Sheriff’s Office after “health concerns” were raised regarding a juvenile earlier that same month, when both Webb and his preschool-age victim tested positive for gonorrhea. Those concerns prompted the child’s emergency removal from the custody of her guardian, local CBS affiliate KCCI reported.
An ensuing investigation resulted in a search warrant being executed at an address on 225th Street in Webster County. That address, the Messenger reports, is owned by Harvest Baptist Church and used for its Harvest Baptist Bible College. Webb worked as a missionary – sent by Harvest Baptist – to St. Lucia as part of a “Christ in the Caribbean” project from 2019 through early 2022, according to the Messenger.
According to court records obtained by Cedar Rapids-based CBS affiliate KGAN, Marvin Smith IV, the Harvest Baptist Church’s current pastor, argued for bond last year by writing that Webb is a “great citizen,” and a “great man in the community,” who would not pose a flight risk. The state disputed that characterization by pointing out that the defendant had searched for how to obtain a second passport just weeks earlier.
During trial, evidence was presented that Webb was diagnosed with gonorrhea just days before the child was also diagnosed with gonorrhea. The prosecution’s case was aided, in substantial part, by the testimony of an expert in child abuse pediatrics. Taylor, the lead prosecutor in the case, successfully pushed back against the defense’s claims that the child could have contracted gonorrhea in a non-sexual manner.
“It’s possible, but is it reasonable?” the prosecutor asked the jury during closing arguments. “If this is so possible, why aren’t we seeing it more?”
During a Friday hearing on a motion for a new trial, Webb’s defense attorney attacked the circumstantial nature of the case and the weight of the evidence. Those efforts did not inure to the defendant’s benefit, however, and the court ruled against the motion before moving on to sentencing, the Messenger reported.
But the state, which wanted Webb to serve sentences one after another instead of concurrently, didn’t get exactly what it wanted either.
“I think consecutive sentences would be appropriate given the fact that Mr. Webb to this day continues to deny and is very adamant that this did not occur,” Taylor reportedly told the court. “Given the nature of these offenses, I firmly believe that the maximum sentence isn’t even close to being enough for this man…he committed the utmost harm and horrific offense when he committed this act. I am thankful that this child is young and has the capacity to forget this time period in her life. I hope that she can move forward and have no memory of these events.”
Webb was given an opportunity to speak before his sentence.
“I would just like to say that I still maintain that I did not do this,” he told the court.
The defendant is planning on appealing the sentence, his defense attorney said.
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