The former youth minister of a Plano church has been sentenced for sexual assault of a child.
Matthew Jonas Overstreet served in the youth ministry at St. Andrew United Methodist Church and was accused of assaulting a 15-year-old girl who used to attend the church. Overstreet pleaded guilty and was given deferred adjudication. He will be on probation for seven years and is required to pay a $7,500 fine.
According to documents released by the Plano Police Department, the girl was 13 when she left the church. At that time, Overstreet began to make sexual remarks to her via Facebook and through text messages. Then in December 2009, Overstreet went to the girl's house and sexually assaulted her. At the time of the assault, he was 25 and the victim was 15.
Even if the girl who came forward verbally consented to the act, the state of Texas protects any person under age 17 from sexual assault by someone who intentionally or knowingly commits the act with a minor, other than a spouse. Overstreet was not exempt from the statute, because he was more than three years older than the girl. If Overstreet would have pleaded not guilty and been convicted, he could have faced between two and 20 years in prison.
At the time of his arrest in March 2010, The Dallas Morning News reported that Overstreet worked closely with teenage groups at two other Methodist churches. He served as youth director at Cornerstone United Methodist Church in Garland for two years after leaving St. Andrew, and he was fired from Spring Valley United Methodist Church in Richardson just days before a warrant was issued for his arrest.
It was also reported that the North Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church would not allow Overstreet to continue his studies to become an ordained minister after the arrest, saying they "hold all who work with young people accountable to the highest standards of conduct."
Staff writer Bill Conrad contributed to this report.
Get the Plano Star Courier in your inbox!
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
Post a comment as anonymous
Report
Watch this discussion.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.