LIBERTY ATHLETES OF THE YEAR: Noelle Crane and Jake Waldo were multi-sport stars. Page 15
July 10, 2019
Our 202nd year | Vol. 202, No. 28 | www.Fauquier.com | $1.50
Former church youth leader sentenced on second sex abuse conviction Warrenton man convicted of taking indecent liberties with a minor in 2014 By Amanda Heicer Times Staff Writer
A former youth leader at a Northern Virginia megachurch was sentenced Monday to serve three years in prison for charges stemming from an inappropriate encounter with a 16-year-old girl at the church in 2014. Jordan David Baird, 28, of Warrenton, pleaded guilty in Prince William Circuit Court in February to two counts of taking indecent liberties with a minor. At the end of an emotional sentencing hearing that lasted more than four hours Monday, July
8, Judge John E. Wetsel Jr. sentenced Baird to six years, but suspended three years of the sentence, leaving him three to serve. Baird was a youth leader at The Life Church, which has campuses in Manassas, Warrenton and Winchester, and was a music teacher at the affiliated Life Music Academy, according to court documents. The music academy has since closed. This was the second sentencing for Baird, who was also JORDAN BAIRD convicted in 2018 of five counts of taking indecent liberties with a minor and one count of electronic solicitation of a minor for sexual activities in another case. The
charges also included suggestive electronic messages he sent another teen girl in 2015. He served five months in jail for that conviction. Monday’s sentencing hearing focused on allegations that Baird had inappropriate contact with a girl during a music lesson at the church in 2014, when she was 16 and he was 23. Prosecutors said that during the lesson Baird was alone with the girl and kissed her before asking her to perform sex acts on him; she refused. During the hearing, the victim, her mother, her father and her sister testified about the impact the incident had on her and her family. The Fauquier Times does not typically identify victims of sexual assault.
See SENTENCED, Page 4
TIMES STAFF PHOTO/JAMES IVANCIC Randy Mantiply and Seth McMurray practice on the new pickleball court.
Warrenton pickleball court debuts July 18 By James Ivancic Times Staff Writer
Pickleball players will have a new place to play in Warrenton come July 18. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held that day at 5:45 p.m. at the new court, built at Academy Hill Park. Pickleball is sort of like tennis, played on a smaller court. Players use paddles to strike a perforated ball that looks like a wiffle ball. The sport has been growing in popularity and the Warrenton Parks and Recreation Department started getting requests from players for a court. The town spent $30,000 to build the court (using money from proffers), put a fence around it and lay an asphalt walk leading to it from the parking lot.
See PICKLEBALL, Page 7 INSIDE Business.............................................13 Classified............................................35 Communities......................................31 Faith...................................................28
PHOTO BY CARSON MCRAE
Fauquier celebrates the Fourth of July Debbie Nielsen and her partner Tom Atwater show off their dance moves at First Friday on July 5. Warrenton celebrated the Fourth of July all week long. More photos, page 2.
Health and Wellness............................21 Horse & Field Sports...........................19 Lifestyle..............................................23 Opinion...............................................10
Obituaries...........................................34 Puzzles...............................................12 Real Estate..........................................30 Sports.................................................15