Linh Ta

lta@dmreg.com

A former Boone pastor was arrested after allegedly sexually exploiting a teenage girl at Grace Community Church and "grooming" her for several years, according to court documents.

Joel Waltz, 47, of Boone, was charged with sexual exploitation by counselor or therapist on March 13. He was booked into Story County Jail and posted bail on March 20.

According to court documents, Waltz and the victim first met at Grace Community Church while he was the youth pastor. The victim was 11 and in foster care at the time.

The victim told police that Waltz would pick her and her sister up from foster care and take them to lunch. She said he was "extremely nice" to her, and she began to trust and confide in him.

After going on a trip with Waltz and other teens from the church when she was 15, the victim told police she started feeling safe with him. At 16, she started talking with him over the phone during lunch breaks and he would come to her athletic events, according to court documents.

The victim told officers that in the fall of 2012, Waltz texted the victim and told her he was in love with her. He asked her not to tell anybody about their relationship, according to court documents.

During the teen's junior year of high school, she said the two met at a park off Duff Avenue in Ames. The two kissed for the first time there.

Around July 2013, the victim told police that Waltz brought her and other young people from the church on a mission trip to Chicago. The group stayed at Waltz' parent's house. Their relationship became sexual at that point.

Waltz then brought the victim and other teens on a mission trip to the Boundary Waters where a sexual encounter occurred again, according to court documents.

On April 14, 2014, Ames Police received a report about suspicious activity between the victim and Waltz at LifeServe Blood Center. A person called police saying the two were seen "passionately" kissing in the parking lot outside the business.

When the victim was confronted about the incident by a school resource officer, she said she lied and denied everything, according to court documents. The victim told officers that at that point, she was told her relationship with Waltz needed to be a secret, but she did not understand the severity of it.

When she turned 17, she said she started sending nude photographs to him over Snapchat, which he would screenshot and keep on his phone.

The victim told officers she tried to end the relationship with Waltz multiple times, but she "fell in love" with him and he was able to convince her to stay.

Waltz resigned as youth pastor at Grace Community Church on March 21, 2016.

As part of Waltz' role as a youth pastor, he spent a significant amount of time counseling young people who had troubled backgrounds, according to a criminal complaint.

The complaint said the victim had a painful past and was struggling with her home life. It said he began to "groom" the victim for a sexual relationship and acted as a counselor while she struggled to find a home.

A call to Grace Community Church was not immediately returned.