Convicted Pastor Who Raped Boys To Make Them Straight Will Serve No Time In Jail

by David Badash 

in News

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An Iowa pastor who is married and has four children was convicted of raping boys, in an apparent attempt to turn them straight — but he’ll serve not a day in prison. Arrested in 2011, “rape away the gay” pastor Brent Girouex reportedly told the cops that “when they would ejaculate, they would be getting rid of the evil thoughts in their mind.” Girouex’s rapes reportedly go back as far as 2007.

Girouex claimed the rapes were his duty “to help [them] with homosexual urges by praying while he had sexual contact with [them],” UPI reported. Girouex was originally “arrested on 60 counts of suspicion of sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist.”
While those 60 counts involved four teens, more have stepped forward, possibly because Girouex’s sentence of 17 years has been suspended by a judge “to allow Girouex to get sex offender treatment and probation. Girouex’s probation will last five years — the maximum allowed by law.”
Many, including Girouex’s own wife, are furious, as KCCI reported:

Erin Girouex, the pastor’s wife, said Thursday probation is not enough. She joined the victims to say they are frustrated. She also said victims of sexual misconduct should not be afraid to come forward, despite what happened in court.
Erin Girouex said she never expected to hear that sort of news. Nor did the families of Brent Girouex’s victims.
“We were clueless,” said Emily Baker, the wife of one of the victims.
Given what happened, Baker and Erin Girouex said Girouex should have been sentenced to prison.
“I think what victims need in any situation is a sense of justice, and we didn’t have a sense of justice (Wednesday),” Baker said.
“If that’s what it takes to get him away from people, then yes,” said Erin Girouex. “I don’t want (my children) anywhere near him.”
Erin Girouex said that what they want is for other victims of sexual misconduct to stand up and speak out before it’s too late.
“We just encourage other victims that you have what it takes, you have a voice, and to come forward and to report what’s happened so it doesn’t happen again,” Baker said.

One final note: This story has been in the news for the past few years, and resurfaced this week after the UPI report, which offered no new information. Now it’s being published on many sites, and we felt an obligation to provide a full set of facts, which others may not have. His sex offender status is here. Image via Iowa Sex Offender Registry.