Burlington County youth pastor charged with sexual exploitation of juveniles
Sean Higgins, who was arrested in 2020, served as the youth pastor and music leader at Harbor Baptist Church in Hainesport, and served as a teacher at the Harbor Baptist Academy.
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A Burlington County man who served as a youth pastor has been indicted on charges that he sexually exploited underage boys, deceiving them into sending him explicit images, then blackmailing them into performing lewd acts so he could watch and record them remotely, authorities said Friday.
Sean Higgins, 31, of Palmyra, has been in custody since he was arrested in October 2020. He is accused of victimizing 13 boys ages 12 to 17 who were living in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Alabama, Michigan, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Tennessee.
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The crimes allegedly occurred in 2020 while Higgins served as the youth pastor and music leader at Harbor Baptist Church in Hainesport, and served as a teacher at the Harbor Baptist Academy, a private K-12 school.
Higgins is not accused of engaging in physical contact with the victims, and none were members of the church congregation or students at the school, Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw said in a statement.
A grand jury this week indicted Higgins on 75 total counts that included charges of endangering the welfare of a child, aggravated sexual assault, criminal sexual contact, cyber harassment, and obscenity to a minor.
Authorities said Higgins would pretend to be a teenage girl on Instagram and Snapchat and deceive boys into trading images with him. Higgins allegedly would then screenshot a victim’s friend list on the social media platform and blackmail the victim to perform sexual acts while he watched and recorded remotely.
The investigation began when a boy in Berks County reported the alleged blackmail to Snapchat, Bradshaw said. Another boy in Alabama also reported Higgins to authorities.
Representatives of Harbor Baptist Church could not be reached for comment.
Bradshaw said anyone who believes their child was victimized by Higgins, who allegedly used the name Julie Miller or something similar, can call Burlington County Central Communications at 609-265-7113, or send an email to tips@co.burlington.nj.us.