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Black Collar Crime: IFB Youth Pastor Jacob Coyle Accused of Sex Crimes

jacob coyle

The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.

Jacob Coyle, a youth pastor at Averyville Baptist Church in East Peoria, Illinois, stands accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting a male church teenager.

The Journal Star reports:

Jacob Lee Coyle, 36, remained in custody Tuesday, one day after $100,000 bond was set on charges of criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

A Tazewell County prosecutor’s court affidavit stated Coyle, of Peoria, acknowledged committing the acts the affidavit described.

Coyle remained employed at Averyville Baptist Church as of Friday, when police interviewed and arrested him, the affidavit stated. The church’s pastor was unavailable for comment Tuesday.

The young man first told police in October that Coyle had sexual contact with him on “multiple occasions” over four years beginning in January 2006 when he was between ages 13 and 17, the affidavit stated.

He said that after joining the church on Spring Bay Road at age 12, he and other young parishioners worshipped on Sundays and took part in youth activities with the church’s “teen unit” led by Coyle, the affidavit stated.

The alleged victim said Coyle “began a frequent practice of ‘cracking’ or rubbing youths’ backs during youth program activities,” the affidavit stated.

By age 13, he’d developed a close friendship with Coyle, who often asked him to come to the church alone to help him with various projects, the young man said. Soon the back massages led to sexual activity, the young man said.

All of the encounters took place at the church, mostly in a guest bedroom known as the “prophet’s chambers,” except for one Coyle allegedly committed at a church camp, the man said.

The church’s website is currently offline. You can access their Facebook page here.

According to cached pages of the church’s website, Averyville Baptist is a:

…an Old-Fashioned, Independent, Fundamental, Premillennial, Bible-believing Baptist Church, like the Church your Grandparents attended, and like the Church your parents were raised in.

Jacob Coyle is the son of Averyville Baptist pastor David Coyle. Jacob graduated in 2004 from Averyville Baptist School. Typical of many IFB churches, Averyville Baptist is operated by the pastor and his family. Averyville Baptist formerly operated Fellowship Baptist College.

3 Comments

  1. Avatar
    Julie Snider

    This is the IFB church that really began the brainwashing of my parents back in the 70’s. It was a mega church back then for the Peoria area. They had their token IFB Bible College back in the day, from which their current pastor (David Coyle) graduated in the early 80’s. He was groomed to take over the pastorate beginning in 1991. My ex-husband (an abusive asshole) began attending this same Bible college around that same time, so I was once again steeped into their cultic ways. Of course, after taking some years & mustering the courage, now I am finally free of that husband AND the cult.

    Coincidentally, that same pastor (Coyle) has three sons, one of whom is now himself an IFB pastor. The pedophile mentioned in this article is Coyle’s middle son. The youngest son has been disowned by Coyle for growing up & *becoming* a homosexual. I am sure elder Coyle is now scratching his head, wondering where he went “wrong”. In his mind, I am confident he will equate what his middle son (Jacob) has done here with his youngest son being gay. It just goes to show the depths of the IFB brainwashing.

  2. Avatar
    Charlene Davis Rusterholz

    Not the same church my grandma and all her friends attended for over 60 years. The bell from the old church was put at the present location in honor of my grandmother. I remember my grandpa ringing that bell in the old church. This is so so sad.

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