A former Southern Baptist youth pastor was sentenced to 20 years in prison July 27 after confessing to attempted sexual exploitation of a 15-year-old girl — one of at least a dozen he targeted while serving Catawba Valley Baptist Church in Troutville, Va.
Jacob Ryan Barnett, 35, posed online as a teenage boy to initiate conversations with underage girls from around the country and ask them to text him sexually explicit photos and videos of themselves.
He did this while serving as youth pastor at the church. He has been in federal custody since his arrest in August 2025 for attempted coercion and enticement of a minor. He later pled guilty to federal charges.
“Barnett might have continued his online hunt for victims if the victim’s mother had not found the conversation between Barnett and the victim and reported it to the FBI,” said Acting United States Attorney Robert N. Tracci last year.
According to court documents, on May 18, 2025, Barnett used TikTok to message the minor victim, and they began chatting. That same day, Barnett gave the minor his phone number and the two began texting.
The girl told Barnett she was 15. Barnett claimed he was 17 and sent the girl images of a young man, which he falsely claimed was him.
The sexually explicit conversation continued, culminating in the girl sending Barnett a graphic sexual video of herself.
The U.S. attorney’s office for the Western district of Virginia explained: “Evidence at Barnett’s detention hearing … showed that he continually prowled TikTok, Discord, Snapchat, and other social media apps to solicit minor girls for sexual chats and images. Barnett also solicited young men for selfies and images of their genitals, which he used to pose as a teenaged boy when soliciting girls.”
This week in court, before his sentencing, Barnett said, “The things I did were evil. They came from a place inside me. There is something wrong in my head.”
Last year, Barnett was arrested while chaperoning a youth retreat in Brevard, N.C. His victims ranged in age from 12 to 17.
At sentencing, he told the judge, “I truly am sorry for the terrible things I have done.”
Barnett is a 2017 graduate of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Christian studies.
Barnett was called to serve at Catawba Valley Baptist Church in April 2024 as associate pastor of students and mobilization.