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.
Christopher Willett, pastor of pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Crystal Springs, Mississippi, was charged in March 2025 with statutory rape, sexual battery, unnatural intercourse, computer luring of a person, and child pornography, according to ByFaith magazine. He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to thirty years in prison.
Christopher Willett, former pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Crystal Springs, Mississippi, was charged in March 2025 with statutory rape, sexual battery, unnatural intercourse, computer luring of a person, and child pornography, according to reporting by ByFaith, the PCA Magazine.
Willett was initially arrested after a 19-year-old woman came to the Crystal Springs Police Department to report she had been molested by Willett beginning when she was 15 years old. The criminal activity took place between September 2020 and December 2021
The police began its investigation the morning after the victim came forward and executed search warrants on laptops, cell phones, automobiles, and Willett’s home.
Willett was arrested under the pretense of asking him to come to city hall to discuss other matters, Police Chief Robert Thomas told the Clarion Ledger, a technique used for safety because of Willett’s known possession of firearms in his home.
According to Thomas, Willett did not put up a struggle during his arrest, but refused to talk once he was in the interrogation room.
Thomas said after a lengthy interview with the victim on Monday, March 10, 2025, he felt the evidence against Willett was “pretty substantial,” but emphasized that Willett had not been found guilty.
Willett was ordained in 2016 and served at First Presbyterian Church in Crystal Springs starting in 2020.
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Earlier this month, on March 13, Willett entered a plea agreement with prosecutors in Copiah County, Miss., agreeing to charges of statutory rape, sexual battery, and incest. The maximum sentence if tried could have been life in prison. However, the plea agreement limited it to a maximum sentence of 30 years.
The judge sentenced Willett to the 30-year maximum with five years of supervised release. He will also be registered as a sex offender.
Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
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.
David DeMenge, pastor of Dominion Church in Little Falls, Minnesota, stands accused of sexually assaulting a church minor.
A pastor, who had been serving at a church in northwestern Minnesota, is facing seven charges for allegedly sexually abusing a child under 13.
In new court documents, a McLeod County prosecutor says David DeMenge is accused of criminal sexual conduct and is being summoned to show up for his first court appearance on May 4, 2026.
DeMenge used to be a pastor at the Dominion Church in Little Falls, which is about 100 miles outside of Minneapolis, but the sign out front still bears his name.
KARE 11 Reporter Jennifer Hoff spoke to DeMenge on the phone Tuesday and he denied all the charges.
“They absolutely are severe and lucky for me, I’m innocent,” said DeMenge, who also says he’s no longer affiliated with the church. He then referred Hoff to his lawyer.
He and his wife came to Little Falls from Hutchinson to serve as a pastor in September of 2025. There are social media posts that show them being installed in the church when the two other longtime leaders retired. DeMenge didn’t say when he was last affiliated with the church.
McLeod County prosecutors say the alleged abuse started in 2013 and was being investigated by the Hutchinson Police Department. Those court documents say DeMenge watched the victim take a shower and “would touch her after.” The documents also allege DeMenge “started saying sexual jokes.”
The victim’s family was willing to share their story and KARE 11 agreed to keep the victim and the family anonymous to further protect everyone’s identity.
“She went from wanting to dance and hang out with friends and be in public spaces to just being so closed off,” said the victim’s family member.
The documents allege the abuse continued for five years until 2018.
“Pastors are supposed to be people you look up to, they’re supposed to be role models,” said the victim’s family member. “They’re not supposed to be people who hurt you.”
It’s unclear if there are other victims, but the impacted family in this case says DeMenge also worked at a charter school and as a hockey coach.
A Church of God pastor from Minnesota who has left the state faces seven felony charges for abusing a child over a five-year period.
David Kenneth DeMenge, 33, is formerly with Dominion Church in Little Falls, about 100 miles northwest of Minneapolis. He is also an evangelist with Ripples Revival Ministries International, a ministry based in Minnesota with work in Peru.
DeMenge, a licensed pilot, uses the moniker, Davis Domingez on social media sites for both his aviation and ministry postings.
Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
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.
Doug McDaris, pastor of New Beginnings Baptist Church in Six Mile, South Carolina, and former pastor of Oakview Baptist Church, stands accused of two counts of molestation of a juvenile.
A South Carolina pastor with past ties to Livingston Parish is being held without bond at the Livingston Parish Detention Center on two counts of molestation of a juvenile.
Doug McDaris, 74, was arrested in Pickens County, S.C., after the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office issued a warrant. He was extradited to Louisiana and booked March 27, according to the parish jail roster.
McDaris served as pastor at Oakview Baptist Church in Livingston Parish from May 2005 to May 2006, according to his LinkedIn profile. He later became pastor at New Beginnings Baptist Church in Six Mile, S.C., where he was serving at the time of his arrest.
Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
Recently, an Evangelical pastor threatened me with legal action if I didn’t immediately remove a Black Collar Crime post about him. I shook in my boots as I read his threats. 🙂 I asked him for evidence for his claim of innocence, which he provided. Innocent, he was not. His charges were expunged. Whether he was guilty was never settled. I asked this preacher to send me court documents showing his expungement, which he did. I gladly removed the post. Afterward, I thought I would ask Carolyn, my editor, to write a post about the various legal terms related to Black Collar Crime stories. Far too often, preachers will lie to me about their crimes, so I do not remove posts unless the alleged offender provides evidence to justfy its removal. I have removed a handful posts over the years. Ninety-nine percent of Black Collar stories are accurate as published
Guest Post by Carolyn, my editor and friend
Introduction
Bruce has asked me to write a piece defining a few legal terms. Before I start, I thought I should give you my credentials, so you will understand that sometimes I know what I am talking about, or I’m close, at any rate.
I became an attorney in 1992, having attended law school at Louisiana State University. I was much older than most of my classmates, and I turned 40 just before I sat for the bar exam. I practiced mostly family law and personal bankruptcy law, although I did 2-3 years, part time, of indigent defense work, for those who cannot afford an attorney. I retired in 2008 and moved with my husband to France in 2010.
I stumbled onto Bruce’s blog in 2015 and immediately fell in love with it. Such delightful writing, with so many errors! So I offered to edit his work, and he accepted. So most of the errors you find today are the result of my carelessness, not his.
Now on to legal terms.
Guilty, Not Guilty, Innocent
First, let’s talk about guilty, not guilty, and innocent. The first two are legal terms, the third is a journalism term.
In a criminal trial, a defendant, or perpetrator, faces charges of crimes or wrongdoing against the state. It is always the state – there are not private prosecutions. When he goes to trial, the outcome is usually GUILTY or NOT GUILTY. There are other outcomes, such as a hung jury or a mistrial, but those don’t arise as often, and they are beyond the scope of this work. The prosecutor must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did, in fact, do what he is accused of doing. If a defendant is found guilty, it means that the prosecutor has done a good enough job of laying out the charges of wrongdoing against the defendant, along with sufficient evidence produced by witnesses, that the jury believes the defendant did what he is accused of doing. The result of a guilty charge is usually that the defendant goes to prison or pays a fine, or both. A few result in the death penalty, but in the grand scheme of trials, there are very few death penalty, or capital, cases. By the way – a defendant may be tried before a jury or before a judge (called a bench trial). It is up to the defendant and his attorney to make that decision.
If the jury finds that the state prosecutor did not meet his burden of proof, then the jury returns a NOT GUILTY verdict. I would like you to understand, that if a defendant is found not guilty, it does not mean he did not commit the crime! It means merely that the jury did not believe, based on the evidence produced at trial, that the defendant committed the crime. Therefore, there are sometimes people found NOT GUILTY who are, indeed, guilty of the crime, but the prosecutor didn’t lay out a good enough case, or there was ambiguous evidence or the jury chose not to believe a witness or witnesses. A person who has been found GUILTY is said to have been convicted of the crime.
INNOCENT is primarily a journalism term. I say that because, early in the newspaper game, editors discovered that it was too easy for a typesetter to omit the very important word NOT, and the newspaper was stating in, say, the headline, that the defendant was found guilty when the reverse was actually true. Can you imagine!? So newspapers moved to calling a NOT GUILTY verdict INNOCENT in an effort to forestall any typesetting or copywriting errors. The term INNOCENT obscures the fact stated above that the defendant was not actually found innocent, but was only found NOT GUILTY, and may have actually committed the crime with which he is charged.
A trial is not meant to determine whether a defendant did not commit a crime. It is only concerned with determining whether he did commit a crime. In life, plenty of people “get by” with something they did for which they do not receive due punishment. Sometimes that happens in the courtroom as well as in everyday life.
Guilty verdicts may not happen only before a jury. A defendant may plead GUILTY to charges if he, in conjunction with his lawyer (hopefully), believes that the outcome of a trial would lead to a finding of GUILTY, and he might believe he would get a better deal in a plea bargain with the district attorney who is prosecuting the case than he would get before a judge or jury.
Expungement
In most cases, a GUILTY verdict stays with the guilty party for the rest of his or her life. On certain occasions, a person who has been convicted of a crime can have the record of his conviction EXPUNGED. Expungement is a legal process by which a convicted party’s record is cleared or sealed. If this is done, the convicted individual can then answer truthfully on job applications, housing applications or other business situations. There are only a few cases in which an expungement can be done.
Expungement is a legal process to clear or seal criminal records, treating them as if they never happened, allowing individuals to deny arrests/convictions and improve job or housing prospects. A person desiring an expungement must file a petition with the court where his conviction took place, and he must prove that he meets certain criteria, such as juvenile offenses, having completed probation or a diversion program, or that the charges were dropped. A judge will review the petition, and may call for a hearing. If the petition is granted, the court issues an order to seal or destroy records. Obviously, expungement is more complex than it seems here, but this gives the reader a basic overview.
Dismissal
Sometimes a prosecutor or a defendant may move for a dismissal of charges. If the latter files a motion to dismiss, there must be a hearing on the issue and the judge will decide whether to dismiss the charges. If the prosecutor moves to dismiss the charges, the judge will ask the defendant if he objects. The defendant almost never does; after all, he’s about to be a free man with no charges pending. A prosecutor will generally dismiss a case if he believes he has insufficient evidence to prosecute a case. This may be because a witness cannot be located, a witness is unreliable (he’s a convicted felon, for instance, or has changed his story while meeting several times with the prosecutor or his team), or any of a number of other reasons that the prosecutor feels he cannot put a reasonable case before a judge or jury. It often happens in domestic cases, where one week the spouses love each other and will not testify against one another, and the next week they hate each other, but there are plenty of other cases where evidence and witnesses are shaky or unreliable.
Cases are dismissed with prejudice and without prejudice. When charges are dismissed with prejudice, the dismissal is a final court order ending the prosecution permanently. Dismissal without prejudice is a procedural pause, often to fix issues like missing evidence or witnesses, leaving the door open for future prosecution later.
I hope none of Bruce’s readers ever has to worry personally about these terms.
Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
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.
Stacy Simmons, the wife of Pastor Mike Simmons of New Beginnings Crossroads Fellowship in West Salem, Ohio stands accused of:
Count 1: Grand Theft (fourth-degree felony) — alleging that between Oct. 4, 2019, and Dec. 14, 2023, she knowingly obtained or exerted control over $20,893.77 without consent, with the alleged victim listed as (REDACTED). The indictment states the value falls between $7,500 and $150,000.
Count 2: Telecommunications Fraud (third-degree felony) — alleging a scheme to defraud during the same 2019–2023 time frame, using telecommunications to further that scheme, with the value of the benefit/detriment also listed as between $7,500 and $150,000.
Count 3: Forgery (fourth-degree felony) — alleging that on or about April 22, 2024, she forged a document described as a “Verification Of Receipt Of Fund By Minor” without authority, with the indictment again citing a value/loss between $7,500 and $150,000.
Stacy Lee Simmons, identified in court records as a resident of Ashland County and the wife of Pastor Mike Simmons of New Beginnings Crossroads Fellowship, has been indicted on three felony counts and entered not guilty pleas in Ashland County Common Pleas Court.
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The materials provided state Simmons was arrested Dec. 12, 2025, and booked into the Ashland County Jail. During a video hearing for arraignment and bond on the Common Pleas case, the court identified the case as State of Ohio v. Stacy Lee Simmons and noted the hearing was conducted by video with the state represented by Assistant Prosecutor James Reese and Simmons represented by defense attorney Norman Miller.
During arraignment, defense counsel indicated Simmons had received a copy of the indictment, waived defects in time or manner of service, and waived a formal reading. Counsel then entered a not guilty plea to all charges, which the court accepted.
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On bond, the state asked for a $22,000 cash bond, citing the alleged theft amount and the desire to ensure appearance. Defense requested a recognizance bond, arguing Simmons has lived in Ashland County for more than 20 years, has no criminal history, is married, works locally, and was aware of the allegations without attempting to leave.
The court imposed a two-part bond structure:
Personal recognizance bond (promise to appear), and
$10,000 posted bond with a 10% option (with posting options described on the record).
No contact whatsoever with the alleged victim
As with all criminal cases, an indictment is an allegation, and the charges must be proven in court.
Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
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.
Kenneth Edwards Jr., a minister at Church of Living God in Del Ray Beach, Florida, stands accused of multiple counts of lewd or lascivious behavior and obscene communication with a minor girl.
A Delray Beach minister is behind bars after he allegedly received nudes and performed oral sex on a teenage girl in exchange for vape pens.
According to an arrest affidavit from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office (PBSO), the investigation began on Friday, Dec. 12, after the Boynton Beach Police Department contacted the sheriff’s office about the crime.
At PBSO headquarters, detectives spoke with the victim’s mother, who explained that the previous day she had confiscated her daughter’s phone, and while searching the phone, she found a hidden Instagram account, the arrest affidavit says. The mother went through the Instagram account and discovered her daughter was having a conversation with a man, identified as Kenneth Edwards Jr., PBSO later confirmed he was a minister at the Church of Living God, the arrest report reads.
The arrest report says the messages included sending nude photographs of herself and allegedly allowing Edwards to perform oral sex on her in exchange for vape pens.
Detectives made contact with the 15-year-old girl, who told law enforcement that she met Edwards Jr. while shopping at DD’s Discount store. The arrest report says Edwards Jr. allegedly approached the victim and asked if they could be friends, and obtained her Instagram.
The two allegedly began messaging each other on the app, the arrest report says. The affidavit says, according to the messages, he asked whether she attended Boynton Beach High School, to which she responded that she was enrolled at another institution.
Edwards Jr. allegedly expressed a desire to see her again, and she agreed to meet with him again, but requested he bring a vape pen to the meeting, the arrest report says.
The report says the two met on a Friday morning. She entered his vehicle and gave him the vape pen he had requested. In exchange, he attempted to perform oral sex on her, which she allowed. According to the criminal complaint, the encounter lasted only a few minutes before she exited the vehicle.
The two continued to communicate through Instagram, where she allegedly sent him nudes, the arrest report says. The two met again a week later at Ninja Kids Trampoline Park, where he gave her a vape in exchange for oral sex, the arrest report continues.
On Saturday, December 13, the victim participated in a controlled video call where they discussed Edwards Jr. performing oral sex on her and discussed their age gap, the arrest report says. Edwards Jr. said if he had known the victim was 15, he would have never touched her, the affidavit says.
The arrest report alleges that Edwards Jr. later contradicted himself, stating that when he first met the victim, he was attracted to her and believed she was 18.
The criminal complaint says that after discovering her age, he said their relationship was going to have to end. The report continues that during the controlled video call, he admitted to meeting with her on two separate occasions, the first time being in the parking lot where she does volunteer work, and the second time at the Ninja Park. Both times he admitted to performing oral sex on her, the arrest report reads.
A criminal complaint says detectives met Edwards Jr. at his home, where he gave a full confession.
Edwards Jr. was booked on counts of lewd or lascivious behavior and obscene communication.
Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
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.
Andrew Apple, an Evangelical youth leader in Bentonville, Arkansas, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting minor church girls and was sentenced to thirty-two years in prison.
A former volunteer at a Bentonville church accused of multiple criminal charges has been sentenced to more than three decades in prison, according to court documents.
Andrew Apple, 28, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree sexual assault on Monday as part of a plea agreement, Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Josh Robinson confirmed to KNWA/FOX24. He was sentenced to 32 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections.
Court documents filed in February said Apple was a volunteer at a church where incidents of sexual assault took place on church grounds.
The affidavits do not specify which church Apple volunteered at, but a pastor at Calvary Church in Bentonville previously confirmed to KNWA/FOX24 that Apple was a youth volunteer before his arrest.
“It is with deep sorrow that we address a situation affecting our church family,” Dean said. “We have been made aware of serious allegations against Andrew Apple, a former volunteer at our church.”
Dean said Apple was serving as the church’s media coordinator “around three or four years ago” when the alleged incidents took place.
In January 2024, Apple became a volunteer youth mentor and was in that role until Feb. 1, 2025, after the church was made aware of the allegations and removed him.
Dean said the church was cooperating with law enforcement on the case.
A probable cause affidavit said the investigation began when police received a child abuse hotline tip from Arkansas State Police on Feb. 4, 2025, alleging inappropriate behavior by Apple.
As the investigation unfolded, two victims came forward with accounts of prolonged abuse.
The first victim, whose identity was redacted, reported that the abuse started when they were around 13 years old while volunteering with Apple at the church.
A second victim, also a minor at the time, disclosed an alleged pattern of abuse that escalated over time.
When interviewed by police, Apple reportedly admitted to some of the accusations and having “a sexual relationship” with the second victim since they were 13 years old, according to a probable cause affidavit.
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Apple was previously facing rape, second-degree sexual assault and sexual indecency with a child charges. His trial was scheduled to begin on Dec. 16.
Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
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.
Clarence Hungerford, pastor of Aurora Baptist Church in Benton, Kentucky, stands accused of soliciting nude photos from an eleven year old church girl.
A Kentucky pastor remains jailed after confessing to soliciting photographs of a preteen and trying to destroy the evidence, according to the Marshall County, Kentucky, Sheriff’s office.
Clarence Barry Hungerford, 58, of Mayfield is being held on $10,000 bail, the sheriff’s office said Friday.
He was arrested Wednesday on charges of unlawful use of electronic means with the commonwealth to induce a minor to engage in sexual or other prohibited activities and with tampering with physical evidence.
These came after telling authorities he destroyed his cellphone to try to prevent law enforcement from searching the contents of his phone, a press release stated.
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The sheriff’s office said the allegations surfaced when the family of an 11-year-old girl contacted them after the child reported she had been solicited for photographs of her body by her pastor.
The case against Clarence “Barry” Hungerford was continued to January during a Tuesday, Dec. 9, court appearance.
Hungerford was charged in the summer with tampering with physical evidence and unlawful use of electronic means within the commonwealth to induce a minor to engage in sexual or other prohibited activity.
During the Dec. 9 court appearance, no new information was made available, and the case was continued to Jan. 13, 2026.
Charges were first brought against Hungerford in late June 2025. On June 25, a report was made by the family of an 11-year-old girl. The family reported to the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office that she had been asked for pictures of her body by the pastor of her church. Following a brief investigation, it was determined that Hungerford was the one to send the messages.
According to a news release, Hungerford was arrested the same day, and admitted both to contacting the girl and to destroying his cell phone in an attempt to prevent the contents from being accessed.
Hungerford is a resident of Mayfield, Kentucky, but was a pastor of a church in the Aurora community of Marshall County, and kept a part-time residence in Marshall County. It is believed that he was at that residence when the messages were sent.
Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
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.
Charles Thessing, a Roman Catholic priest in Little Rock, Arkansas, recently pleaded guilty to animal cruelty.
A West Memphis priest is under fire after he was arrested and charged Tuesday morning with aggravated animal cruelty.
This comes after police found the pastor was involved in improper care and treatment of an animal.
FOX13 learned Father Charles Thessing is the lead priest at St. Michael’s Catholic Church. City officials said Thessing was allegedly involved with drowning cats.
“The deliberate harming of an animal is 100% unacceptable,” said Kerry Facello, the director of West Memphis Animal Services. Cruel and inhumane were the words she used to describe the charges against Thessing.
West Memphis Police said they arrested Father Thessing after he allegedly violated local and state animal welfare laws. FOX13 went digging into the Crittenden County jail log. FOX13 found the 63-year-old was charged with aggravated cruelty to animals.
“It is an ongoing investigation, as you know,” Facello said. “There were cats involved in this situation.”
Thessing is the priest at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Crawfordsville, Ark., and St. Michael Catholic Church in West Memphis. St. Michael is also a school that is right next door to the church.
Facello said her shelter takes animal cruelty cases seriously and this case will now be their top priority.
“To see someone be actively cruel, to see neglect, to see harm come to them in any way, not only is it heartbreaking and illegal, it makes a statement for how that person lives their life,” said Facello.
Facello said aggravated animal cruelty is a Class D felony in all 50 states.
Earlier this week, Thessing pleaded guilty to animal cruelty. He, astoundingly, received NO jail time!
A West Memphis priest pleaded guilty to two counts of cruelty to animals after being arrested in February amid allegations of drowning cats.
Father Charles Thessing entered his guilty plea on Tuesday and was ordered to pay $3,000 total, including a $530 fine and a $2,250 restitution payment to the West Memphis Animal Shelter.
However, animal advocacy group In Defense of Animals called the sentence “a slap on the wrist,” saying Thessing would trap and drown cats.
The Catholic Diocese of Little Rock removed Thessing from his church duties as the case played out.
At the time he was arrested, he was reportedly serving as the lead priest at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in West Memphis and Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Crawfordsville, Ark. He was removed from his posts while the case was pending.
According to a publication of the Catholic Church, Thessing has been appointed to begin a new assignment in the Diocese of Shreveport effective Jan. 1. There is no information on what his new assignment will be. He will remain incardinated in the Diocese of Little Rock.
Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
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 Barnett, a youth pastor at Catawba Valley Baptist Church in Troutville, Virginia, recently pleaded guilty to child sex crimes.
Authorities say Jacob Barnett used various social media accounts to solicit sexually explicit material from underage girls across state lines while serving as youth pastor at Catawba Valley Baptist Church, leading to his arrest on Aug. 7.
Barnett, 34, was apprehended by FBI agents Aug. 6 in North Carolina and is being held at the Catawba County Detention Center in North Carolina without bond, according to media reports.
A May 18 tip led the FBI to investigate a TikTok account appearing to beling to a teen boy named “Jodie Johnson.” That individual had contacted a 15-year-old girl in Michigan and, after leading her to exchange phone numbers and days of persistent messaging, convinced her to send a sexually explicit video of herself.
The investigation revealed that the account belonged to Barnett, with phone records confirming he had sent the messages and routinely interacted with minors online. His TikTok account followed “thousands of young girls.” Barnett also used other social media accounts such as Snapchat and Discord to pose as a teenager and solicit sexually explicit videos from minors.
Catawba Valley Baptist church released a statement on Aug. 8, stating the congregation was “devastated” over the news.
“We are deeply grieved by these allegations. Our prayers are with anyone who may have been impacted, and we ask the Lord for comfort, healing, and justice,” it read.
“As a church, we remain fully committed to the highest standards of protection, safety, and care for every child, student, and family who is part of our fellowship. We continue to take every measure possible to maintain a safe environment for all.
“We are cooperating with the proper authorities and will refrain from additional public comment while the legal process continues. In this difficult moment, we are leaning on the grace of God and seeking His wisdom and peace.
A youth pastor pleaded guilty Monday, December 9 in a case involving attempted child sex crimes, according to court records.
Jacob Ryan Barnett, 34, former youth pastor at Catawba Valley Baptist Church, was arrested by FBI agents in North CarolinaAugust 6, 2025 on charges of solicitation of sexual material from minors.
The FBI received a tip that Barnett had attempted to groom a 15-year-old girl living in Michigan. Investigators discovered Sunday, May 18, 2025, the 15-year-old girl received a message that appeared to belong to a teen boy who called himself “Jodie Johnson”, according to court records.
Barnett faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum punishment of life.
Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
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