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.
Lindsey Whiteside, a youth pastor at Getwell Church in Hernando, Mississippi, and high school basketball coach, was accused of having sex with a minor girl under her care.
Whiteside’s church bio states:
My deepest passion is for everyone to experience Jesus in the same way I have. Through student ministry, missions, or any other ministry, I am so thankful that the Lord has called me to Getwell Hernando where I can pursue that passion both inside and outside the walls of the church. It is an honor that the Lord calls us all to participate in His Kingdom, and I am grateful to be able to do it within and alongside the community of Hernando.
“For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:26-28
A grand jury has returned an indictment charging a former DeSoto County youth minister with having sex with a child under her guardianship.
Court documents allege Lindsey Aldy Whiteside, 26, intentionally and knowingly had sex with an underage girl between May 14 and November 6, 2024.
An indictment was returned earlier this month, charging Whiteside with one count of felony sexual battery of a minor.
Prior to the indictment, Whiteside worked at Getwell Church Hernando as a student and outreach coordinator, and also previously served as an assistant basketball coach at DeSoto Central High School.
“We can confirm that the December Grand Jury of DeSoto County has indicted Lindsey Whiteside on the charge of sexual battery of a minor child by a person of trust or authority,” DeSoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton said in a statement. “Prior to this indictment, Lindsey Whiteside served as a youth ministry leader and basketball coach—positions that carry a profound responsibility to protect and guide others.”
Whiteside served as the assistant girls’ basketball coach at DeSoto Central High until she was hired by Getwell Church Hernando in August 2022.
Church members claim she was terminated after the sexual battery allegations arose.
Getwell Church did not immediately answer Action News 5’s calls for comment.
Whiteside faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
Recently, Whiteside pleaded guilty and was sentenced to house arrest. House arrest? She was facing thirty years in prison, yet the judge gave her a slap on the wrist, with NO PRISON TIME. Sadly, all to often judges give lesser sentences to women than they do men. I suspect that is the case here. The victim and others are rightly outraged by the light sentence. The district attorney stated: “This sentence is an absolute abomination of justice. It is not right; it is everything that’s wrong. This is why people actually question whether our institutions actually serve people.”
There will be no immediate jail time for a female youth pastor who admitted to the sexual battery of a teenager who attended her church.
Lindsey Whiteside’s case first came to light in November 2024. On Monday, the former youth pastor for Getwell Church in Hernando pleaded guilty to a single count of sexual battery, a charge that could mean up to 30 years in prison.
But Whiteside left the DeSoto County Courthouse sentenced to a decade of supervised release, beginning with three years of house arrest, virtually the complete opposite of the sentence sought by DeSoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton.
“We, the State of Mississippi, and frankly, I am extremely disappointed,” Barton said. “The sentence ended up being three years of house arrest, followed by seven years of post-release supervision, for a total of ten years of supervision. This sentence is an absolute abomination of justice. It is not right; it is everything that’s wrong. This is why people actually question whether our institutions actually serve people.”
Whiteside’s victim was nearly 17-year-old at the time of the sexual battery, which by the former youth pastor’s own admission occurred multiple times, though she only faced a single count.
Those crimes occurred while the victim was being mentored and counseled by Whiteside, in her role of trust within the church the victim was attending.
The victim’s family was outraged Whiteside didn’t receive any prison time. Pam Pegram, a member of that family, spoke on behalf of the victim and her family following the sentencing.
“Let me be clear: no adult should ever engage in sexual contact with a child. In no way, shape, or form is the victim ever at fault,” Pegram said. “This adult could at any time have said, ‘Mom, help me; pastor, help me; friend, help me.’ She never did. She plotted and she planned, she deceived and she manipulated so that she could have her way.”
The district attorney said that, as shocking as the sentence was, so was the fact that educators and even a sitting school board member offered letters and even testimony in support for Whiteside, which he said is detrimental for the victim.
“It is true that when you support the abuser, you victimize the victim, and for that, that’s part of the reason that I was so disturbed by the amount of pedophile sympathizers that wrote into the court, and specifically Michelle Henley is an elected member of our school board,” Barton said. “Our victim at the time was a student at one of the schools that Michelle Henley is supposed to help govern. And yet she wrote a letter in support of the defendant; she testified on behalf of the defendant’s good character. Which I submit: there is no good character to someone that would sexually abuse a child.”
Just before handing down the sentence, the judge said no one was going to be happy with the decision. In addition to the ten years of supervised release, Whiteside will also have to register as a child sex offender for the rest of her life. She will face jail time if she violates any of the terms and conditions of her house arrest..
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 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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