Police: Volunteer church worker groomed child

DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) -  A Decatur volunteer church worker is accused of grooming a child. 

Police said a child alerted their mother to Brandon Tovar, 35, sleeping alone with and cuddling with her friend, who is under 13. The child also discovered sexual messages between Tovar and the victim on Snapchat, per a sworn statement. 

Police received copies of the messages and an apology Tovar sent to the mother after the Snapchat conversation had been reported, officers said. 

Tovar is a volunteer children's worker at Heartland Community Church. He told police the church pastor had confronted him for allegedly holding hands with a minor, texting a female under the age of 16 and taking pictures of boys in their underwear at the church. 

Authorities arrested the suspect Tuesday morning in Decatur.

Tovar faces a grooming charge. His bail is set at $200,000 in Macon County.

Heartland issued a statement Wednesday evening about the accusations against Tovar: 

"We are saddened by the choices of Brandon Tovar who was a volunteer children’s worker at Heartland. Heartland Community Church is committed to the safety and protection of our church family from the youngest to the oldest and do thorough background checks of each volunteer. Mr. Tovar was removed from any contact with children when we learned of any inappropriate behavior all of which took place outside of the normal function of the church."

In relation to the pictures Tovar is accused of taking involving boys, Pastor Joe Bowman said those were "casual photos taken in a camp setting while he was a camp leader. He said to "assume they were staged would be incorrect."