Former pastor Joseph M. Krol was sentenced to 24 months probation in Macon County Court Friday, Sept. 30 after he pled guilty to a single charge of grooming a minor. Three other charges brought at the time of his arrest were dropped.
Krol, 38, was arrested Oct. 15, 2021, at his home in Dawson after the parents of a teenage girl reported Krol had made sexual advances to their daughter through social media. Krol had met the girl while he was pastor of Galilee Baptist Church north of Decatur. He had left the church for a pastorate at Rochester First Baptist Church in July 2021. The Rochester church dismissed him very soon after his arrest.
Krol was charged on four counts, but three related to solicitation and enticement were dropped as part of his plea agreement. In addition to the two-year probation, Krol was required to register as a sex offender.
The Illinois Baptist State Association assisted both churches in their responses following the arrest as part of IBSA’s ongoing equipping for sexual abuse prevention and ministry to abuse survivors.
– with info from WICS