Type keyword(s) to search

Features

Why did Parker McCollum fire Joel Schoepf? Allegations and charges against the country music star's crew member explored

Parker McCollum fired his assistant road manager, Joel Schoepf, after he was arrested for trying to meet up with a 13-year-old boy
posted by Madhurima Roy
Wednesday 12/3/2025 at 4:04AM EST
  • Parker McCollum performs onstage during the 57th Academy of Country Music Awards at Allegiant Stadium on March 07, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images for ACM)
    Parker McCollum performs onstage during the 57th Academy of Country Music Awards at Allegiant Stadium on March 07, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images for ACM)

    Singer Parker McCollum fired his assistant road manager, Joel Schoepf last month immediately after he was arrested. For the unversed, Joel was arrested on November 13 after being caught in a sting operation to find child predators.

    He contacted Alex Rosen, the founder of the Texas-based organization Predator Poachers, on Reddit, thinking he was talking to a 13-year-old boy. The two agreed to meet at a McDonald's store in New Braunfels, Texas.

    There, Joel Schoepf was confronted by Alex, who regularly livestreams catching predators. He was then arrested and brought to Comal County Jail. On X, Rosen shared the video of Parker McCollum's former crew member getting arrested and shared that Joel allegedly admitted to watching child pornography, and even reportedly met up with another predator and masturbated together to the videos.

    "He's a predator. We caught him off Reddit. He was into babies and toddlers. Admitted to meeting up with another pedo off the internet to jack off to child pornography together, as young as 5 years old... He's not out of the closet yet either," the founder of Predator Poachers said.

    Joel was charged with online solicitation of a minor, a second-degree felony offense. According to Wide Open Country's report, Parker McCollum's former stage manager was released the next day on a $50,000 surety bond.

    Parker McCollum has not released a statement on Joel Schoepf's arrest

    Joel Schoepf has worked as Parker McCollum's guitar technician since July 2021. He became the singer's assistant road manager in 2023. According to his LinkedIn page, Joel has been in the field since 2006.

    Along with Parker McCollum, Schoepf worked with a stage manager and guitar technician for rock bands, Reckless Kelly, Cross Canadian Ragweed, and Cody Canada and The Departed. Joel also worked as a stage manager for the music festival Luck Reunion, which is hosted annually by singer Willie Nelson.

    In other news, the organization Predator Poachers has made headlines multiple times for catching child predators. Wading River Elementary School's music teacher, Mark Verity, was arrested in October after getting caught by the group.

    Fox News reported that Predator Poachers used AI to alter their members' pictures to those of a teenage girl. Then they used more AI tools to confirm the teacher's location and online activity. They confronted him outside the school, and Mark admitted to being a predator.

    Mike Villani, a member of the organization, told the news outlet that predators like Verity usually deny being a predator. However, he did not deny being one.

    "If you're doing really heinous, evil stuff like Verity was doing, then you must have in the back of your mind that it's only a matter of time before something like this does happen. Normally, when we confront people they say they didn't do this, or they didn't do that, but in this case, Mr. Verity was very forthcoming about all the stuff he tried to do with this teenager," Mike Villani said.

    The school teacher was arrested and charged. He was also fired from the elementary school.

    Stay tuned for more updates on Parker McCollum and Joel Schoepf's arrest.

    TOPICS: Parker McCollum, Arrest, child sexual abuse, country singer, Viral, Viral Videos