ABILENE, TX – Jeffrey Winston Forrest was arrested on Friday afternoon by Mexican authorities. The former Abilene pastor is charged with two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, bail jumping, and failure to appear.
Forrest worked as a daycare worker at the Pioneer Drive Baptist Church in the ‘90s and served as a youth minister to multiple churches in Abilene. Investigators believed he used his position at the churches to gain access and groom his victims.
In April of 2015, Forrest was accused by four boys who alleged he had sexually assaulted them. Forrest’s trial was scheduled for August of 2016, but he never showed up to court.
According to KTXS, Forrest had recently been added to the U.S. Marshalls 15 Most Wanted Fugitives list. Authorities had reasons to believe Forrest had fled to Mexico and on Friday he was arrested in a grocery drive-thru in in Zapopan, Jalisco, over a thousand miles away from Abilene.
Forrest was identified and photographed by a civilian weeks ago at a Zapopan Walmart. The shopper recognized Forrest after he was featured on the “In Pursuit with John Walsh.”
The shopper’s pictures and video showed Forrest shopping with another man with his Star Wars Rebel Alliance tattoo on his right ankle in full view.
The Zapopan police confirmed in a press release Forrest was arrested by the State Attorney’s Office, Zapopan Police Department, and the National Institute of Immigration (INM).
Forrest’s bond was set at $3 million dollars but he is being held on a federal hold, which means he would not be released even if he paid the bond.
Forrest will be deported back to the U.S. to face prosecution.
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