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.
Daniel Mayfield, a student pastor at First Baptist Church of Gowensville in Landrum, South Carolina, stands accused of secretly video recording a woman while she was taking a shower. First Baptist is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention
The Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office said a youth pastor admitted to videotaping a woman while she was in the shower on Saturday.
According to an incident report, a woman told deputies she was showering at her mother’s house when she saw a light outside the bathroom window. When she went to look, she said she saw 35-year-old Daniel Kellan Mayfield standing in the backyard alone.
The woman and her sister told deputies they confronted Mayfield about the incident to which he initially denied. He then admitted to taking a video of her while she was showering and gave her the phone to look at the video, according tot he report.
Deputies were contacted and responded to Mayfield’s home to speak with him. After admitting to law enforcement, he was taken to the Greenwood County Detention Center and charged with voyeurism.
First Baptist Gowensville, which is located in Greenville County, confirmed that Mayfield was employed with the church as a student pastor.
He was fired from the church on the day of his arrest.
First Baptist immediately fired Mayfield, but makes no mention of him and his alleged crime on their Facebook page or website.
After this story was published, more allegations were leveled against Mayfield.
The Greenville County Sheriff’s Office announced that an Upstate youth pastor is facing new charges after allegedly videoing girls in the shower of an Upstate church.
Deputies said they began investigating the situation on May 30 after they received information from the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office.
The Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office said the youth pastor, 35-year-old Daniel Kellan Mayfield, admitted to videotaping a woman while she was in the shower on Saturday, May 27.
Following this incident, deputies in Greenville County investigated and discovered that Mayfield allegedly filmed multiple girls in the bathroom of Gowensville Baptist Church in Landrum. They added that they’ve identified six victims so far and that they are as young as 14 years old. According to deputies, Mayfield reportedly set up and recorded video inside the restroom on at least three occasions dating back to July 2022.
First Baptist Gowensville confirmed that Mayfield was employed as a student pastor. However, he was fired from the church on the day of his arrest. Deputies said they believe Mayfield acted alone and don’t believe anyone from the church knew about his activity. On June 1, the church released the following statement on the incident.
The charges keep on coming for Mayfield.
A former youth pastor at a Landrum church faces additional charges for criminal sexual conduct, according to arrest warrants provided by the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office.
Daniel Kellan Mayfield, 35, now faces a total 14 charges for filming underage girls and women in the bathroom of Gowensville Baptist Church while still in his official capacity as a youth pastor for the church.
Mayfield was previously charged with five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, first degree, as well as one voyeurism charge. At the time, investigators said at least six victims were involved, as young as 14-years-old.
Mayfield now faces five additional counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and three voyeurism charges, according to warrants filed Thursday, June 8.
Warrants allege Mayfield filmed the victims “in a closed bathroom … where (they) had a reasonable expectation of privacy.”
The Greenville County Sheriff’s Office warrants allege that Mayfield admitted to recording underage girls during an interview with Greenwood County deputies. The videos were allegedly found on his phone.
The alleged crimes occurred on five different dates between May 2021 and September 2022, according to the fourteen separate warrants.
Mayfield faces an additional voyeurism charge in Greenwood County according to public court records.
Mayfield was arrested at his Boiling Springs residence on June 1. He is currently detained at the Greenville County Detention Center and pending an initial court appearance, according to the jail’s website.
“Investigators do believe Daniel Mayfield acted alone and do not have reason to believe anyone from the church had knowledge of the unlawful activity,” Lt. Ryan Flood of the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office said in a June 1 email.
According to the Christian Post, Mayfield is facing 35 counts of criminal sexual conduct in Greenville County while he is facing an additional 11 counts in Greenwood County.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen 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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