CLINTON – Authorities said a former high school choir teacher and ex-music minister has been charged with sexual crimes against boys committed during the 1980s. Forty-nine year old John Langworthy was arrested at his Clinton home on Sept. 7 and charged with eight counts of sexual gratification of lust and six counts of fondling children. Langworthy could face additional charges as the investigation continues, sources said.
Authorities said Langworthy was a choir teacher at Clinton High School, but didn’t return this fall. Langworthy also resigned from Morrison Heights Baptist Church in Clinton this summer after he told congregants he had “sexual indiscretions” with boys in Mississippi and Texas more than 20 years ago, the Associated Press reported.
Langworthy said some of those encounters took place while he was the music minister at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas.
Reportedly, when Langworthy was a student at Mississippi College, also during the 80s, he had sexual encounters with at least five young boys, between the ages of 8 and 12, from the Jackson-Clinton area. Langworthy was babysitting two of the children in his dorm room when they were allegedly sexually fondled.
Jamie McBride, Assistant District Attorney for Hinds County, said five of the victims came forward when Langworthy confessed his actions to the church. McBride also said the five victims from Mississippi were members of Jackson churches at the time of the alleged crimes.
“I believe the admission prompted other victims to come forward. Admission is probably one of the strongest pieces of evidence a prosecutor can have,” the district attorney told WLBT.
Authorities said Langworthy became friendly with his victims’ parents, even staying in their homes and babysitting for the young boys.
Langworthy’s bond was set at $200,000 for the Clinton charges and $500,000 for the Jackson charges. No charges have been filed in Texas as of yet. The investigation is ongoing.
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