Houston deacon accused of sexually assaulting boys
Police asking victims to come forward
A mother knew something was wrong when her son didn’t hug Barry Durrell goodbye.
Durrell, 55, was a close friend of the family. He was a deacon at the church the mother and son attended, West Houston SeventhDay Adventist. That day in February, Durrell had accompanied the mother and her son on a trip to the mall.
After Durrell left, the mother’s 7-year-old told her about a pattern of assault that happened over a year and a half. Beginning in the summer of 2015, Durrell allegedly began sexually abusing him in bathrooms — at the church, at an IHOP restaurant and, that day, at the shopping mall. She called the police. One other mother had already contacted authorities, accusing Durrell of sexually assaulting her 2-year-old. But investigators with the Houston Police Department believe Durrell, who was charged with a similar crime in California prior to coming to Houston, has had many more victims in the 27 years he has lived in the city. On Wednesday, they asked victims to come forward. He was arrested and charged in March for sexual assault.
“It scares me as a dad and as a member of the community,” said Officer Lee Donovan with HPD’s special victims division. “We are here today because we think there are more (victims).”
Durrell moved to Houston in 1990, Donovan said. Two years earlier, he had
been convicted for a similar crime in California. Yet, Durrell was not a registered sex offender.
Durrell started volunteering at West Houston Seventh-Day Adventist Church in the mid-1990s. He gained the community’s trust. In 2003, he was ordained as a deacon.
The volunteer role — given to seven male church members — is largely that of a caretaker of the church building. Duties could include unlocking the church doors and putting offering envelopes in the pews, said Gary Pate, legal counsel for the Seventh-Day Adventist Conference.
Durrell was not volunteering in an official capacity with children. Had he been, he would have gone through a rigorous criminal background check, Pate said.
Pate declined to specify whether Durrell underwent a background check to volunteer as a deacon.
With his new title, Durrell gained access to children and a key to the church where he could isolate them.
Police believe Durrell groomed his victims before he assaulted them.
“These weren’t random people on the street he didn’t know,” Donovan said. Clergy cooperating
The church was where Durrell’s assaults on the now 7-year-old boy appear to have started, in a stall in a downstairs restroom where Durrell shushed the boy if he started to make noise, according to sworn statements from the boy to law enforcement officers. The boy also said Durrell took photos of him inside bathroom stalls.
In May 2016, police believe Durrell sexually abused another boy, also at the church. This time, it was a 2-year-old. A mother found her toddler alone in a closet with Durrell, with his diaper pulled down, according to the sworn statement taken in March from the mother to police. The closet door was locked, and the mother knocked several times before Durrell opened it, according to the statement.
The mother immediately took her toddler to the hospital where he was tested for sexual assault.
Police do not believe clergy or members of the Houston Seventh-Day Adventist Church facilitated or covered up the abuse, Donovan said. Clergy have cooperated with the investigation, Donovan added.
“The West Houston Church strongly condemns the alleged offenses,” the church released in a statement on April 11. “The well-being of its members and community is of upmost importance.” Information sought
Durrell was charged March 10 with super aggravated sexual assault of a child under 6 for assaulting the 2-year-old and continuous sexual abuse of the 7-year-old, according to court documents. He was arrested March 11 and has been behind bars in the Harris County Jail since.
Durrell does not appear to have any other criminal history in Harris County. He confessed to sexually abusing both boys and to his conviction in California. Police have not confirmed whether he served in a similar church role in California, Donovan said. Durrell also told Houston police he molested a child in Oregon, but police have yet to verify it happened, Donovan said.
But Durrell’s history has led police to believe he continued to abuse children after his move to Houston, either children of church members or of residents of the apartment complex where he lived in West Houston.
“It wouldn’t have stopped over a 20-year period and picked back up again,” Donovan said.
Investigators are asking anyone with information or who may have had contact with Durrell to contact the HPD special victims division at 713-830-3254 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222TIPS.