A Key Peninsula fifth-grade teacher charged with molesting his female students was released on a $750,000 bond amid new allegations of child pornography and violating conditions of his pretrial release.
Jordan Roy Henderson, 34, faces nine counts of first-degree child molestation. He is alleged to have molested three students numerous time while they were in his fourth- and fifth-grade classes, records show.
Henderson was arrested April 18 following a two-month investigation. He is on administrative leave, according to the Peninsula School District.
A plea of not guilty was entered on Henderson's behalf April 19 in Pierce County Superior Court. His bail was set at $100,000, and he was released the same day on a electronic home-monitoring device after posting a bond, court records show.
Henderson was arrested again March 30 for allegedly violating his pretrial release conditions. At his arraignment, he was ordered not to have contact with minors other than his biological children. He was also not allowed to attend church.
Prosecutors allege that a neighbor saw several people, including juveniles who were not Henderson's children, coming in and out of his Gig Harbor home on Sundays. The gatherings were determined to be church services for Wellspring Fellowship Church in Key Peninsula. Henderson is a deacon at Wellspring Fellowship, and his father, Chris Henderson, is the pastor, a previous News Tribune story reported.
At one point on May 10, the neighbor saw Henderson cleaning his front yard when a young girl about 4 to 5 years old approached him. Henderson allegedly said, "Oh my God, there she is in a cute little skirt." The neighbor said the girl was not Henderson's child.
Henderson's attorney, Brett Purtzer, denied that his client violated the pretrial services agreement and said Ring camera footage showed that the little girl was Henderson's daughter. He urged the court not to raise his bail during a hearing on March 31 at Pierce County Superior Court.
Prosecutors brought forth new allegations that there was child pornography found on Henderson's computer from 2017. Detectives allegedly also recovered an extensive search history for child pornography. Henderson has not been charged in connection to those allegations.
Court Commissioner Barbara McInvaille increased Henderson's bail to $750,000, sayingdevelopments in his case concerned her greatly. She also ordered that there be no more church services at Henderson's home if he was released.
Henderson was released on a $750,000 bond on Monday, court records show. Purtzer told the News Tribune that Henderson did not have church services at his home. He also said no children, aside from his own, have ever been at his home after the child molestation charges were filed.
Purtzer had no comment regarding the alleged child pornography and said that he has not seen anything in discovery regarding it.
The Wellspring Fellowship Church voiced its support for Henderson through a now-deleted Facebook post that was written by Chris Henderson.
"While some would have you focus on alarm bells and your greatest fears about what you do not know, I want to encourage you with confidence about what I do know," the Facebook post read. "I know Jordan to be of the highest quality and character as a man. He is a great husband, a great father, a great teacher."
In a new statement made June 3, the church spoke about the child pornography allegations.
"This news is deeply disappointing and disturbing," the post reads in part. "We want to be very clear that we condemn and abhor child pornography and in fact all pornography."
The post continues in part:
"We don't abandon someone who needs help just because it is difficult or inconvenient. We all need help and accountability to be set free, regardless of the sin."
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