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.
In February 2021, Christopher Lawton, the former pastor of Lamplight Christian Church– an independent, non-denominational Christian congregation — in Greenfield, New Hampshire, was charged with thirty felony counts of sexual assault.
A former pastor who tried to start a church in Greenfield is charged with 30 felony counts of sexually abusing a child in his congregation.
Christopher D. Lawton, 43, of Francestown Road, allegedly assaulted the girl between 2015 and 2016 while he was her pastor.
Lawton was initially charged in October on 10 counts. The investigation continued and a grand jury recently handed up scores of new indictments.
The enhanced felony charges of aggravated felonious sexual assault accuse Lawton of using his position to coerce the alleged victim. Each count carries a 10- to 20-year prison term.
The new charges allege that the abuse took place in Francestown, Greenfield and Peterborough, according to the indictments. No affidavit has been made available in the case, and there are few public details outside of the indictment sheets.
Lawton tried to start a church in Greenfield around 2015, renting the town’s historic Meeting House for his services. He reportedly had a small congregation of 20 to 30 people before a domestic violence arrest in 2015.
Greenfield Police Chief Brian Giammarino has said the 2015 arrest brought Lawton and the sexual abuse allegations to the attention of police. The victim in that case left town, according to Giammarino, and the case fell apart.
However, it was during that domestic violence investigation that police learned of the sexual assault accusations, according to Giammarino.
The alleged victim denied there was anything inappropriate in the relationship with Lawton, Giammarino said. Two years later, the victim came forward and report the alleged sexual abuse, Giammarino said.
Earlier this year, Lawton pleaded guilty and was later sentenced to 7-15 years in prison.
Christopher Lawton, 44, received 7 1/2 to 15 years in state prison in Hillsborough County Superior Court North in Manchester in April on concurrent sentences for eight counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault. Judge N. William Decker also imposed 10- to 20-year suspended sentences on eight additional counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault. The suspended sentences are concurrent to each other but consecutive with the other sentences.
Lawton pleaded guilty to those 16 charges, which allege he abused his authority as a pastor several years ago to coerce a teenage girl into sexual acts on several instances between January 2015 and June 2016. Prosecutors dropped more than a dozen additional felony sexual-assault charges as part of a plea agreement.
New Hampshire’s age of consent is generally 16. But under state law, it is a felony to abuse a position of authority to coerce someone under 18 into sexual acts. It is also a felony for a therapy provider to engage in sexual activity with a client of any age through coercion or otherwise unethical behavior. Prosecutors charged Lawton under both provisions, citing a “pastor counseling relationship” he had with the girl.
According to Greenfield selectboard meeting minutes from October 2014, Lawton ran an organization called the Lamplight Christian Church, and sometimes rented space at the Greenfield Meeting House to hold Bible study and worship services on Sunday.
As part of his sentences, the judge ordered Lawton to have no contact with anyone under the age of 18 and not to provide teaching or counseling services. If he successfully completes sex-offender treatment in prison, 2 1/2 years will be removed from the sentence he is serving, according to court documents.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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It sounds like he started a church as a grooming ground.