PINE BLUFF, Ark. —  Bishop Jacob Taylor is a convicted sex offender, also known as Carlos Norwood. Fox16 Investigates has been digging into his past since August 2014 when members of his church accused him of hiding his history and committing forgery. Taylor sat down with Investigative Reporter Marci Manley to give his side of the story, and he also released a copy of his sex offender assessment report.

The reports are usually kept confidential, unless an offender releases the information. Taylor provided this reporter with a copy. The sex offender assessments are completed by the Sex Offender Screening and Risk Assessment program, which includes a director and a team of investigators.

Sheri Flynn, director of the SOSRA program, and her team spend a lot of time talking about sex. Much of it is deviant, most of it is disturbing.

“All sex offenses are heinous and all are horrible,” she said. “And we would never say anything otherwise. But our job is to evaluate what crimes they’ve committed and what the risk is to the public that they’ll offend again.”

Flynn’s team combs through the history of convicted sex offenders, who they know will eventually live next door to someone in the state.

“The question we are always asking is who needs to know and why,” Flynn said.

Arkansas’ sex offender assessment is unique to the Natural State. It goes further than most in that it involves an in-person interview, full personal background including mental health, behavior and criminal histories. It also includes actuarials, or tests, aimed at guaging risk factors.

“Before an offender walks through our door, we have stacks of information,” Flynn said.

Jacob Taylor has been assessed twice. Both times he walked away a with a Level 3 notification as a high-risk offender.

“I’m one that’s not guilty,” Taylor told Fox16 Investigates.

Flynn can’t speak to any specific offender’s assessment or case, but she said there are some characteristics that cause concern across the thousands of offender files the SOSRA team has reviewed. Once she spoke to us about those risks and red flags, we compared it to Taylor’s report.

One risk factor is the inability to take responsibility for actions and outcomes. According to Flynn, there are sex offenders who arrive who are in complete denial and argue they’ve been wrongly convicted.

“There are thousands of sexual assault allegations made each day across the United States,” Flynn said. “The latest figure I’ve seen is that only about two percent of those make it to the prosecution stage. We are only speaking to people who have been found guilty, and sometimes pleaded to the charge. That’s something to keep in mind.”

Since the assessments began in 1999, SOSRA has covered nearly 13,500 offenders. For those who deny responsibility, Flynn says there is typically a pattern in place.  

“There’s a history of being wrongly accused for everything. They’ve never done anything wrong, yet they continue to come into contact with the criminal justice system. That’s very significant,” she said. “That can be illuminating regarding the insight a person may have on why they offended and why they may re-offend again.”

Taylor claims he’s an innocent man who pleaded guilty in 2004 to a crime he didn’t commit. He’s been victimized ever since.

“I was falsely accused of a sexual assault third degree,” he said.

But in Taylor’s sex offender assessment report, he admitted that while he was a pastor he had sex with a 15-year-old female church member twice.

“So you never confessed to having sex with her?” we asked Taylor for confirmation. He shook his head no.

According to Flynn, another warning sign for assessors sitting down with an offender is whether the offender has changed his or her ways or if they continue to try and live a life that may give them access to preferred victims.

“If someone has used a position of trust or authority to previously offend, and they continue to seek out those positions of authority, that is certainly a red flag,” she said. “And maybe they are no longer in the same position, but look for other ways or roles to be in a position of trust or authority that gives them access to their victim types.”

In Jacob Taylor’s case, he continues to identify himself as a bishop and intends to renew his church activity, including youth ministry at some point.

“I have two more years left on paper as far as sex offender registration,” Taylor said, noting he intended to petition to be removed from the registry once he reached 15 years as a registered sex offender. The state of Arkansas allows an individual to petition to be removed from the sex offender registry after 15 years on the registry. The court may or may not grant the request.

Another aspect SOSRA reviewers take into account is whether the offender completed sex offender treatment. If they failed to do so, especially during prison, it’s a surefire warning sign.

“That’s a big red flag and risk factor for recidivism,” Flynn said. “If you’re in prison and you have access to a program at no cost to help you live a victim-free life, it raises some questions. Those who have truly taken treatment to heart, you can tell it the moment they walk into the room. There’s no doubting that they’ve received good treatment and are working to lead a pro-social life.”

While untruthfulness is expected and often confronted, a polygraph is also administered to get to the truth. Failing that is also a red flag.

“If they choose to deny, they can deny. We’re not going to force them to tell the truth,” Flynn said. “We will make a note of it in the report as a fact of the assessment.”

When we reviewed Taylor’s assessment, it was noted that he did not complete sex offender treatment and was deemed “not amenable” by prison program personnel. He also failed a lie detector test, twice.

“My goal and my vision is to get my life back together where I can pick up where I started from,” he told Fox16 Investigates.

Flynn would be the first to say that not all sex offenders pose the same risk to re-offend. Some, she said, truly want to avoid ever putting another victim or themselves in that situation.

“I would encourage people to look into what they did and who they did it to,” she said. “It’s wise to remember not all sex offenders prey on children. Those who do are more likely to re-offend, but there are those who are lower risk, and we know that treating them as the more dangerous type can make them more likely to experience recidivism. It’s a fine line to walk.”

And given all this, whether you choose to believe someone like Bishop Jacob Taylor rests upon what you know and the red flags you see for yourself.

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