A Valencia man who worked as a youth pastor in St. Louis, and as a former producer for a local church, has been charged with multiple counts of sodomy, according to St. Louis County Police Department officers in Missouri.
Brandon Milburn, 26, of Valencia, was arrested Thursday for six counts of statutory sodomy in the first degree by St. Louis County Police Department officials, said Sgt. Matt Redmond.
Brandon Milburn
Police officials said two alleged victims, both 11 years old at the time, contacted the Police Department, which sparked an investigation that led the victims to identify Milburn.
Milburn was contacted by police officials, questioned by detectives and then confessed to the St. Louis crimes, Redmond said.
Milburn was working as an intern outreach minister in St. Louis from 2007-09 when the alleged crimes occurred, Redmond said.
“He was a college student doing an internship at this church, where he had contact with some people in a youth group or youth ministry,” Redmond said.
After their investigation, the evidence was submitted to the county’s prosecutor, who decided to file six counts, Redmond said.
Milburn told police officials his occupation was a producer for a Valencia church.
Fred Gray, executive pastor of Real Life Church in Valencia, confirmed that Milburn was a former employee, and that the church was “horrified” to find out about the allegations.
Milburn did not work with children at the church, Gray said. He worked for the church for about four months.
Church officials just learned of the allegations and are looking into the claims, he said.
“We are still mid-investigation from our end,” Gray said. “We’re trying to figure out what we need to do. We will make an announcement to our congregation.”
There is currently no local investigation against Milburn, as no Santa Clarita Valley victims have been identified or come forward, said Detective Dave Campbell of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station’s Detective Bureau.
Milburn is currently being held on a $100,000 cash only bond.
Police officials are releasing the information in the hopes that if there are any other alleged victims out there, they come forward, Redmond said.
There is sometimes a hesitancy for victims to self-identify, Redmond said.
“That’s generally how disclosures happen in a lot of cases. They usually don’t disclose right away,” he said.
“If there is anybody who was abused by Mr. Milburn,” he said, “they need to contact their local law enforcement.”
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44 Comments
Background checks!
They did a background and he was clean.
Background checks!
Predators go where people think they are safe. They are opportunists. He’s not the first and won’t be the last…
Predators go where people think they are safe. They are opportunists. He’s not the first and won’t be the last…
Great
Great
Not judging because I’ve never been but I haven’t heard very many good things about Real life Church and this is icing on that cake.
Trisha, I think your comment was unnecessary as it had nothing to do with the story and quite frankly it is judging from someone who has never been involved (by your own admission)with Real Life Church.
Thank you !!!!
It’s great church. Unfortunately you can’t control the people that enter the doors. We are all sinners, hence the reason we go in the first place. Please check it out so you can find out for yourself. No place is perfect. We all fall short of the Glory of God
Not judging because I’ve never been but I haven’t heard very many good things about Real life Church and this is icing on that cake.
Gross
Gross
I love real life but wow
I love real life but wow
Don’t surprise me.
Don’t surprise me.
So sad! I hope there are no other victims.
So sad! I hope there are no other victims.
I’ve been to real life a few times. And everyone is always so nice.
Hopefully they learn from this
I’ve been to real life a few times. And everyone is always so nice.
Hopefully they learn from this
Real Life Church is an awesome part of this community, even a background check would not turn up something on someone who has not yet been convicted. He does not represent RLC or their values. RLC is such a productive part of the community that other churches strive to do as they do. They give back to the community, they are true philanthropist and our community can only benefit from having them and other organizations who strive to be like RLC here in Valencia. Before anyone makes a judgement on my statement. I am not part of RLC, although I have attended their services a few times, I only knew about them through their community out reach programs. You cannot judge a church by the actions of a man.
Real Life Church is an awesome part of this community, even a background check would not turn up something on someone who has not yet been convicted. He does not represent RLC or their values. RLC is such a productive part of the community that other churches strive to do as they do. They give back to the community, they are true philanthropist and our community can only benefit from having them and other organizations who strive to be like RLC here in Valencia. Before anyone makes a judgement on my statement. I am not part of RLC, although I have attended their services a few times, I only knew about them through their community out reach programs. You cannot judge a church by the actions of a man.
Thank you !!!!
Well said Michael.
Well said Michael.
People that commit sex crimes come from all walks of life. Just because he worked at RLC means nothing. Churches etc should be judged by what the criminal does.
I find it ridiculous that the main focus here is that this individual worked at Real Life Church instead of the fact that he is sick and charged with sex crimes. Not to mention that he did not work with children while he was there and did not have a previous record. Let’s place blame where blame is due and hope that he gets put away so he can’t hurt anyone else.
Yes, you cannot judge a church for what someone has done that they are only now being caught for….Real Life is an amazing church and they give back so much…I would hate.for this to stop anyone from finding and following Jesus…Jesus came for the sinners not the righteous…he came for this young man…he wouldn’t want to see him go to hell anymore than anyone of us….sin is sin in God’s eyes….
They always hide in plain sight!!!
He’s devil
I don’t speak for the church; I do attend there. What I have learned is that the accused was subjected to a background check and references, as part of standard procedures. His duties did not involve children. Given that the allegations were not public until now, one cannot rightly assume that RLC staff missed something. To my knowledge, no one has yet said any misconduct or abuse occurred at RLC or in CA for that matter. As the investigation unfolds, I hope everyone can work from the facts and then see what lessons need to be learned. I know many of the volunteers and workers in the kids’ ministries, and I have a great degree of confidence in their vigilance and care for every child who comes through those doors. What we can say for sure is that dangerous people lurk in all corners of life, and we cannot for one moment lower our guard.
As a member of Real Life Church for over 12+ years it sad that some people are judging our Church because of this. Our Pastors are so dedicated and work very hard to teach us Gods word. I volunteered for many years in the office and experienced this first hand. Please if you have never been to RLC come to one of our services and make decision by your experience, not by some of these comments. They are dedicated to this community!
As a member of Real Life Church for over 12+ years it sad that some people are judging our Church because of this. Our Pastors are so dedicated and work very hard to teach us Gods word. I volunteered for many years in the office and experienced this first hand. Please if you have never been to RLC come to one of our services and make decision by your experience, not by some of these comments. They are dedicated to this community!
They do background checks before you can work in the children’s ministry, but if you don’t have a conviction or an investigation into anything it won’t be there. Then you have to rely on who they know.
Can you imagine the bible is correct about a wolf in sheep clothing? I am not a member of real life, but I am a sister in Christ. The issue is this man not the church that does background checks. For the few months this man worked their his record at the time was clean. Could not have caught this before these allegations. The devil is everywhere.
Ditto Michael Erickson!!
Ditto Lisa Michelle Griggs!!
At least Real Life “Church” will be known for something besides giving out coffee.
Terrible!
I belong to RLC church. I think this SOB targeted RLC because the Senior Pastor and other ministry Pastors or church staff are from Missouri. He knows he is wanted in Missouri, hides in CA and used his connections [references] to get a job @ RLC. RLC did nothing wrong, it is just milburn exposes the weakness of the church. milburn said his job is a “producer” producer of what?. He is a youth pastor in Missouri [did more damaged than good], but he was hired to work in the production. I am not sure if there is a skills shortage from the RLC members, who are looking for work. Rusty, just asking.
It makes me really sad that a lot of people are judging Real Life Church for one man’s actions:( I have been going to real life for more than 4 years and it has changed my life… it is disgusting and disturbing to know what this man has done:( I will pray for these innocent little girls and their families.
We all fall short. We are not to judge anyone. We all have our own sins. And all sin is equal in Gods eyes