Former York County pastor hangs himself in West Virginia jail
A former pastor of Old Paths Baptist Church in North Codorus Township hanged himself Saturday with a bedsheet in a West Virginia jail cell, according to The Associated Press.
Matthew Jarrell, 41, committed suicide in South Central Regional Jail after being charged Thursday with sexually assaulting a West Virginia woman, police said.
Jarrell had been a senior pastor at Open Door Baptist Church in Mesquite, Texas, since 2004 and oversaw the Mesquite Baptist Academy, a private Christian school owned by the church.
Associate pastor Rick Parcel said the church believed Jarrell was in Pennsylvania attending a Baptist convention. Police say he was actually in a Charleston, W. Va., bar, which he would later leave with a woman who asked for a ride home. Police said Jarrell stopped in a secluded area and forced the woman to perform sexual acts. She later escaped and called police.
Parcel said the congregation was also unaware of a previous sexual assault charge against Jarrell in 2007 near San Antonio.
Jarrell was pastor at the York County church until the early 2000s. In May 2000, while Jarrell said he and his family were vacationing in West Virginia, his home on Stoverstown Road was destroyed by a fire.
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