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.
Jason Yates, the former CEO of My Faith Votes –an Evangelical voter ministry that supported Donald Trump in the last election — has been charged with eight counts of possessing child pornography.
The former president of an evangelical get-out-the-vote nonprofit, which seeks to motivate Christian voters to promote family values and “biblical truth” in the public square, was charged Monday (Nov. 4) with eight counts of possessing child pornography.
Jason Yates, former CEO of My Faith Votes, was charged during a video court hearing in the District Court of McLeod County, Minnesota. State officials allege that from February 2023 to July 2024, Yates possessed a hard drive with digital pornographic images of minors under 14 years of age.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension began investigating the 55-year-old Yates at the end of July after a relative, identified in court documents as “Witness #2,” accidentally discovered a hard drive containing over 100 images of child porn in Yates’ office, according to a statement of probable cause filed in the case. That relative told a second relative, identified as “Witness #1,” who turned the hard drive over to law enforcement. According to court documents, the hard drive allegedly contains both still images and videos of pornography involving minors under 14.
During an interview on Sept. 13, Yates allegedly confirmed that the hard drive did not belong to Witness #2 but declined to give law enforcement a password for encrypted files on the hard drive.
“Defendant stated that he had a prior conviction, which had been expunged, related to CSAM/child pornography,” the complaint filed against Yates alleges.
An attorney for Yates declined to comment.
For much of its history, Jason Yates was the CEO and president of My Faith Votes. He was still listed as CEO on the group’s website as of Aug. 19 but his name and image were removed sometime after that date.
“In early August 2024, the My Faith Votes board of directors separated Jason Yates from My Faith Votes and board member Chris Sadler assumed the position of Acting CEO. Over the last three months Chris has been working with the dedicated My Faith Votes team to encourage millions of Christians to vote, pray and think biblically about this election in America,” a spokesperson for My Faith Votes told RNS in an email.
The group’s website blames Christians for failing to stand up against “secular progressives” — which the group faults for a host of social ills.
“As a result of apathy at the voting booth and in public life, we’ve suffered devastating moral decay, declining religious freedom, immoral national debt, and the erosion of traditional family values,” the group’s website reads.
In early July, a few weeks before the hard drive allegedly containing child porn was turned over to police, Yates wrote an op-ed for The Washington Times, urging Christians to fight “sexually deviant” messages aimed at children, mainly about LGTB issues.
“This infernal programming is being downloaded into our children, and it becomes far easier when it finds no resistance in our public square — when it is allowed to fill the void left by the absence of our faith,” he wrote.
A biography of Jason Yates from April 2024 describes him as having left a corporate career in 2015 to become CEO of My Faith Votes. Along with promoting voting among Christians, he served on the board of several other ministries.
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.
Arturo Alarcon, an assistant pastor at 121 Community Church in Grapevine, Texas, stands accused of child porn possession. Law enforcement found the pornography while investigating a report of invasive visual recording.
A Grapevine pastor, volunteer, and substitute teacher is facing charges after allegedly being caught with hidden cameras and child pornography.
Grapevine police say 38-year-old Arturo Alarcon, who was an associate pastor at 121 Community Church, set up spy cameras inside a trailer neighboring mobile home park that the church uses as a temporary place to stay for visiting families.
“The person who planted those cameras knew what they were, and they were intentionally put there,” said Grapevine Police Spokesperson Amanda McNew. “He was the pastor who would bring families into that home. He had the codes to get into it.”
A missionary couple was staying in the home and discovered the cameras.
According to an arrest warrant, the man noticed a clicking noise from an alarm clock and discovered it took a memory card. He then noticed the camera. The church contacted police soon after.
“Through that investigation, detectives uncovered a downloaded photo of child pornography,” McNew said.
The child porn found on Alarcon’s phone was unrelated to the spy cameras, according to an arrest warrant. It’s unclear if additional crimes are suspected, but police say there’s no evidence indicating so at this time.
“We’re going to keep looking, but we haven’t found anything else at all,” said McNew.
In a statement to FOX 4, 121 Community Church says it placed Alarcon on leave after it made its report to police. He was later fired when he was arrested.
“The Grapevine Police Department has stated that the investigation is ongoing and there is no evidence of additional crimes. We have been in contact with the Grapevine Police Department and continue to cooperate with the investigation,” the church said. “We currently have no indication from law enforcement or any other source that local children were involved with the alleged conduct.”
No one on Friday answered the door at Alarcon’s trailer just two streets away from the trailer where he allegedly installed spy cameras.
Alarcon was known around the neighborhood for his work with the nearby church and with the Grapevine Community Outreach Center, an extension of the Grapevine Police Department.
Alarcon was also a substitute teacher within Grapevine-Colleyville ISD since March 2022.
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.
Felix Sung, an IT specialist at Church of the Good Shepherd in Durham, North Carolina, stands accused of 10 counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor. Good Shepherd is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA).
A Durham church employee faces 10 counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor for incidents dating back to 2014.
According to a search warrant, on Oct. 31, officers with the Durham Police Department responded to the Church of the Good Shepherd, where the pastor reported numerous pornographic files of children were located on a computer managed by Felix Sung, a former IT specialist.
The pastor told officers Sung worked with the church for years, maintaining computers, the security camera system and the computer server from a locked office, according to the warrant.
According to the warrant, the pastor said Sung had a history of ongoing disagreements with office staff over administrative issues and resigned in late October, turning over his keys, church credit card and computer passwords.
On Oct. 30, new IT specialists began working at the church.
The new employees alerted the pastor to suspicious pornographic content on church computers, including “files labeled with names of female children who attended church” and “concerning photos” of girls, including one child’s face on “various nude female and male adult bodies,” the warrant states.
Some of the images were made from child pornography and others were computer-generated, the warrant states.
According to church staff, Sung was the only person who had previously had access to the computer. The warrant states Sung was seen on security camera removing computers and hard drives on the day of his resignation.
Sung appeared in court for the charges on Nov. 13. He was given a $250,000 bond and has since bonded out. His next court date is scheduled for Jan. 14, 2025.
WRAL News on Monday interviewed Norman Acker, a church elder and spokesperson.
Acker said the images were found on Oct. 30, and police were notified the following day.
“The police interviewed staff and looked at the photos, and the church was fully cooperative with police and turned over those photos to the police,” Acker said.
To be transparent, Acker said the congregation was immediately notified in a meeting following church services.
“We know that these kinds of allegations have happened in the past where churches have not been transparent and have tried to hide things, and we do not want to be in that category,” Acker said. “We want to be fully transparent.”
Acker said Sung did not work with the church youth group, either in a paid or volunteer position, but the warrant says “He was also involved with photography for the church and assisted with many programs within the church, including the youth ministry.”
The church offered to pay for professional counseling for people were affected and created a committee made up of a nurse, a mental health professional and church members — all female — to help in case hands-on abuse was reported.
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.
Geoffrey Carter, pastor of Apostolic House of Deliverance in South Bend, Indiana, and director of the Children’s Choir of Michiana, stands accused of child exploitation, possession of child pornography, sexual battery, child seduction, and voyeurism using a camera.
WNDU 16 News Now is learning 36-year-old Geoffrey Carter is in the St. Joseph County Jail on multiple charges, including child exploitation, possession of child pornography, sexual battery, child seduction, and voyeurism using a camera.
According to court paperwork, the 17-year-old unnamed victim filed a police report earlier this month against Carter. A few days later, the victim revealed to Mishawaka police investigators they were staying with Carter at his Mishawaka home.
The victim claimed they were awakened on Halloween morning after feeling someone rubbing their leg and “squeezing” their buttocks. They said they turned around and saw Carter in the bedroom, pulling his pants up and quickly hiding his phone. They also reportedly observed a camera flash. The victim also indicated later seeing a video of Carter masturbating near them around the time this happened.
Court paperwork goes on to talk about how the victim knew the passcode to Carter’s phone. He accessed it, looked through his camera roll and discovered numerous pictures and videos in the phone’s hidden folder. That victim handed the phone to police as evidence.
A search warrant was executed on Carter’s home, and more nude pictures and videos of the victim were reportedly discovered in Carter’s phone from the bathroom. The video was consistent with the victim’s allegations from Halloween morning. Officials also found a fake smoke detector and hidden camera in the home.
On Monday, Carter spoke to police and said the victim was staying with him since October as “his mother” was having housing issues. He admitted to putting cameras in his bathroom and recording the naked victim. He also admitted to recording himself masturbating while standing over the victim.
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Carter was arraigned in court on Thursday. His bond is set at $15,000 cash. As of Thursday night, he remains in custody.
He’s due back in court for an initial hearing on Dec. 2.
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.
Mark Eichorn, a preschool teacher at St. John’s Episcopal School in Abilene, Texas, was accused of possessing child pornography.
An Abilene preschool employee has been accused of possessing child pornography.
Mark Penfield Eichorn was booked into the Taylor County Jail Thursday on charges of Possession of Child Pornography Under 10YO and Possession of Child Pornography with Intent to Promote.
A press release from the Abilene Police Department states investigators found lewd images of children on Eichorn’s cell phone, as well as other electronic evidence.
Eichorn’s LinkedIn and Facebook pages list him as an employee of St. John’s Episcopal School. LinkedIn states he is a substitute teacher, and Facebook claims he is a Preschool Teacher Assistant.
St. John’s sent a letter to parents after his arrest, which states “this afternoon, Thursday, May 9, the leadership of St. John’s Episcopal School was made aware of an investigation of a staff member by the Cyber Crimes Unit of the Abilene Police Department when a search warrant was served upon the staff member. The school is working in concert with the Police Department.”
The school also told KTAB and KRBC investigators do not believe any child at St. John’s Episcopal was affected by Eichorn’s alleged crimes, which were cyber in nature.
More information has been released on an Abilene preschool employee who was arrested and charged with possession of illicit media depicting children. According to court documents, he looked at himself as a “sugar daddy” to his victims.
More information has been released on an Abilene preschool employee who was arrested and charged with possession of illicit media depicting children. According to court documents, he looked at himself as a “sugar daddy” to his victims.
In an interview with Eichorn, he confessed to obtaining and paying for child pornography from the 13 and 12-year-olds for his sexual gratification. He also admitted to other acts, such as inappropriately touching a child and trading child pornography on social media.
Looking for an opportunity to serve as a mentor to children and their families so they can come to know Christ. Show all people that through Christ nothing is impossible.
U.S. Magistrate Judge John R. Parker ruled Thursday in Abilene’s federal court that Mark Penfield Eichorn would be subject to detention in a federal facility prior to his trial in connection with a charge of production of child pornography.
Eichorn stands accused of one count of production of child pornography.
According to allegations in the federal indictment filed June 5, Eichorn enticed and coerced two juveniles under 18 to produce child pornography.
The charges stem from an incident on Oct. 22, 2023, in which Eichorn allegedly paid and directed two boys, 12 and 13, to produce a sexually explicit video, according to court proceedings.
If convicted, Eichorn faces 15-30 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine, along with possible restitution to victims or the community. He also faces a possibility of supervised release of five years to life.
One of his defense attorneys, Christopher Solis, entered Eichorn’s plea of not guilty Thursday in federal court.
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The lengthy set of hearings on Thursday took over four hours to complete. Federal prosecutor Whitney Ohlhausen represented the interests of the United States versus Eichorn.
Before the detention hearing could begin, however, Solis filed a motion to seal the courtroom.
“I suspect you want to have the hearing in a closed set?” Parker asked Solis, who then began to explain his position.
Solis noted that he was afraid an open courtroom could “influence the public consciousness before he even goes to trial.”
Parker, however, was having none of it.
“Why should I sanitize what the public knows?” the judge said.
Parker went on to say that he was aware that it could be uncomfortable or embarrassing.
“That’s not a reason to close the courtroom,” he said.
Ohlhausen expanded on the point.
“Potential victims have a right to be present,” she said. “The public has a right to know what’s going on in their community.”
Federal homeland security investigator Michael Baker took the stand Thursday to detail the charge and the interview that Eichorn had with the Abilene Police Department.
Baker testified that Eichorn confessed to the charge in the interview and admitted to having two boys in Georgia make a sexually explicit video after he paid them $200 dollars via an online payment app.
Eichorn went so far as to admit that he knew they were minors, Baker testified.
Baker also testified that in 2019, there was an incident with Abilene Christian University police in which Eichorn admitted to them that he was “sexually attracted to children.”
In the interview with APD, Eichorn also admitted to inappropriately touching a child at St. John’s Episcopal School in Abilene while he was employed as a preschool teacher there, Baker testified.
While there had apparently not been an outcry of abuse at the school, Ohlhausen pointed out that some of the victims in the allegations “were as young as 4 years old when interviewed.”
Baker then stressed the importance of one of Eichorn’s responses to APD detectives.
The detectives asked him about the two juvenile boys in Georgia, Baker testified, and Eichorn responded with, “Just those two?”
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When it was defense attorney Russel Lorfing’s turn to present his case to the court, he called an expert witness, Dr. Scott Nelson, who had apparently treated Eichorn as his psychologist for over three years.
Nelson testified that Eichorn “has been diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum.”
Nelson testified that he was “worried about his physical and emotional safety” if Eichorn were to be incarcerated.
When Ohlhausen asked Nelson about Eichorn’s sexual desire for children, however, Nelson said “that has never come up” in his treatment of Eichorn.
Parker’s commanding presence in the courtroom was felt when he brought up serious questions for Nelson and pointed out his lack of knowledge about the charges or accusations of child pornography.
In an exchange that lasted several minutes, the judge scolded Nelson for his unawareness.
“You formed your opinions without knowing what he is accused of doing?” Parker asked Nelson.
When it was federal prosecutor Ohlhausen’s turn for closing arguments, she told the judge that Eichorn allegedly was “coercing other children across state lines to produce child pornography.”
“This was deliberate,” she said. “No conditions of release could guarantee the safety of children across the United States.”
Ohlhausen added, “The weight of the evidence against him is insurmountable,” and “this definitely is a hands-on predator.”
Defense attorney Lorfing then noted that while Eichorn should be held accountable, he has no criminal history other than a dismissed parking ticket.
Lorfing said that the defense was “open to anything” but prison. They would accept GPS monitoring, house arrest or an in-treatment facility instead of detention.
The judge, however, had strong words.
Parker said Eichorn “appears to be high functioning” and educated, given his master’s degree. Parker noted he did not find Nelson credible as a witness.
“The facts of this case are very disturbing,” the judge said.
Parker ruled that Eichorn would be incarcerated until the trial begins.
A woman in the audience said, “Yes, thank you, Jesus,” as a U.S. marshal placed Eichorn in handcuffs.
Mark Penfield Eichorn, a former preschool teacher’s assistant at St. John’s Episcopal School in Abilene, is facing a federal charge of production of child pornography.
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Taylor County court records indicate, however, that Eichorn is facing additional charges at the state level of possession with intent to promote child pornography and indecency with a child.
Eichorn has yet to be indicted on these two new charges.
He was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service after his federal detention hearing June 13.
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Eichorn, 27, was initially contacted by the Cyber Crimes Division of the Abilene Police Department in April, according to court documents. APD had received information that he was allegedly “paying children to provide him with naked pictures and videos of themselves.”
During the interview, he allegedly admitted to officers that he had viewed pornography of children as young as infants. He also gave officers permission to look through his cell phone.
Officers found multiple lewd images on his cell phone and later on his iPad after they had obtained a search warrant, according to allegations. Eichorn further admitted to “trading images of child pornography” via an online application.
As of June 18, he faces a second-degree felony charge of possession with intent to promote child pornography in connection with the admission in the interview.
In that same interview with APD officers, Eichorn also allegedly admitted to “having encounters with children in the past,” according to court documents.
He specifically mentioned an incident with an ex-girlfriend’s son who was 10 years old at the time.
While the unnamed child did not have an outcry of abuse, he became “very emotional during the interview and stated that he didn’t want Eichorn to get in trouble.”
Eichorn faces a second-degree felony charge of indecency with a child as a result of the alleged incident. The state charges are each punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Tuesday Eichhorn pleaded guilty to federal child pornography charges.
A 27-year-old man who paid two young boys $200 to produce a sexually explicit video pleaded guilty today to federal child pornography charges, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.
Mark Penfield Eichorn, a former preschool teacher’s assistant, was indicted in June. He pleaded guilty Tuesday to production of child pornography before U.S. Magistrate Judge John R. Parker.
According to plea papers, Mr. Eichorn admitted that he contacted two young boys, ages 12 and 13, via Snapchat and asked them to produce a sexually explicit video of themselves.
The children, who lived in Georgia, later confided to law enforcement that they produced a 90-second video as instructed and sent it to Mr. Eichorn, who paid them $200 via Venmo. Financial and phone records corroborated their accounts.
In an interview with law enforcement, Mr. Eichorn admitted that he knew the children were roughly 13 years old when he asked them to produce the video, and that he paid them $200 for it.
At a detention hearing shortly after he was indicted, federal law enforcement testified that when asked about the children in Georgia, Mr. Eichorn responded, “just those two?”
Mr. Eichorn now faces 30 years in federal prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release.
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 Bellinger, a professor at Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, Texas, was arrested on suspicion of possession of child pornography.
Law enforcement authorities have arrested on suspicion of possession of child pornography a man who was a Brite Divinity School professor and theological librarian when police allege he obtained illicit images. Charles Bellinger, 62, was taken into custody on Oct. 2 after Fort Worth police Internet Crimes Against Children Unit detectives, TCU police officers, and United States Secret Service special agents served a search warrant at Bellinger’s house in Arlington and at his office on the TCU campus.
Bellinger was a professor of theology and ethics. References to Bellinger on the divinity school’s web pages appear to have been removed, but the pages are archived. TCU and the Divinity School share resources but are separate institutions.
The Rev. Stephen Cady, Brite Divinity School’s president, wrote in an Oct. 3 statement that the alleged behavior is repugnant.
“When Brite administration was made aware of this situation, we immediately initiated our own investigation, cooperated with law enforcement, shut down his access to school technology, personnel, and facilities, and placed him on immediate administrative leave before terminating his employment shortly thereafter,” Cady wrote. “He did not teach a single class after we learned of the concern.” “I am mindful of the ways that some faith institutions have failed in the wake of these situations and am determined that Brite handle this situation consistent with our values and be a part of a more faithful narrative,” Cady wrote. “We will, as a community, get through this difficult moment as we have difficult ones in the past, prayerfully and together. Please do be in prayer for Brite.”
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According to the school’s website, “Although Brite Divinity School and Texas Christian University are independent institutions, they have a rich historical relationship and enjoy a shared heritage, affiliation, traditions, and values with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).” According to Bellinger’s biography from the divinity school’s website, he obtained a master’s degree from TCU in 2013, and also earned degrees from the University of Illinois, the University of Virginia, Pacific School of Religion and Portland State University.
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“During my years in graduate school I studied both theology and ethics because the concept of narrow disciplinary boundaries separating the two fields never made sense to me,” Bellinger wrote in the biography. “I also developed a strong interest in reflecting on human psychology from a theological point of view. … My major theme over the years since college has been reflecting on violence psychologically and ethically.” Bellinger remained at the Tarrant County Jail on Thursday. A bond has not been set. It is unclear whether a defense attorney has been appointed or retained in the case.
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.
James Swanson, pastor of Rome Wesleyan Church in Rome, New York has been sentenced to three years in prison for child pornography possession.
A former pastor at Rome Wesleyan Church has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for possession of child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
James H. Swanson, 59, of Rome, was sentenced by Chief Judge Brenda K. Sannes on Friday to three years in prison, followed by 15 years of post-release supervision, on a charge of activities constituting child pornography. Swanson was also ordered to pay at least $8,000 in fees and restitution.
Authorities said Swanson, for years, would download child pornography from the internet and then upload it to a Google Gmail account. The authorities were tipped off by Google in March 2022, leading to an investigation and interview with Swanson, officials said. Swanson admitted to the conduct while being interviewed, authorities said. He was taken into custody in September 2023.
According to court documents, Swanson served as the pastor of the Rome Wesleyan Church for several decades.
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.
Jonathan Elwing, pastor of Palm View First Baptist Church in Palmetto, Florida, stands accused of multiple counts of possession of child pornography. Palm View is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention and holds to Calvinistic theology. Elwing now faces over 20 counts of child pornography possession, including explicit images showing him sexually battering a two-year-old child.
Jonathan Edward Elwing, senior pastor of Palm View Baptist Church in Palmetto, was arrested June 21 on four counts of possession of child sexual abuse images.
The church, located on the southern edge of Tampa Bay, confirmed the arrest of Elwing, 43, on its Facebook page that same evening. Elwing resigned from the church prior to being arrested.
The church’s chairman of deacons told local news that Palm View had held several training sessions on identifying signs of sexual abuse. He added that Elwing, who according to online records began at the church in November 2019, followed a pastor who had been with the congregation for 41 years.
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Manatee County Sheriff’s Office detectives received information the day prior that Elwing had used cryptocurrency to purchase the images online. Deputies found four “sexually explicit photos of children” on his cellphone Friday after executing a search warrant at his home and office. Elwing remains in custody at the Manatee County jail and is being held on $15,000 bond for each count.
The Conservative Baptist Network, of which Elwing was a member of the Florida state chapter leadership, released a statement on June 22.
“Upon learning of this news, he was immediately removed from the Network,” said Timothy Pigg, CBN network director. “I ask that you pray for the Palm View Baptist Church and Jonathan’s family.”
Manatee County Sheriff’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children detectives arrested a Palmetto pastor on June 21 for possession of child pornography. Tuesday, 14 more charges were filed against the pastor.
A former Florida pastor has received 14 additional charges in connection with a child sex abuse material case. Jonathan Elwing, now-formerly of Palm View First Baptist Church in Palmetto, Florida, was arrested after an investigation revealed that he allegedly used cryptocurrency to purchase child sex abuse material.
Elwing, 43, resigned as pastor of Palm View First Baptist Church before being taken into custody on Friday, June 21.
The new charges include six counts of possession of child pornography, six counts of use of a child in a sexual performance, and two counts of sexual battery on a person less than 12 years old—which is a capital offense.
lwing had previously been charged with four counts of possession of child pornography, bringing the total number of charges against him to 18.
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Palm View First Baptist Church is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), and Elwing appears to have been invested in Southern Baptist denominational politics. He was a member of the Florida chapter of the Conservative Baptist Network (CBN), a group formed in 2020 to address what it believed to be “liberal drift” in the denomination.
Following the news of his arrest, Elwing’s membership was revoked.
Palm View First Baptist Church had also been featured on Founders Ministries’ list of “gospel-preaching, Christ-exalting” churches. Led by Florida SBC Pastor Tom Ascol, Founders is “committed to encouraging the recovery of the gospel and the biblical reformation of local churches.”
Elwing was a pastor at Palm View First First Baptist Church for the last few years, according to church leaders. He resigned from his position as senior pastor before his arrest on Friday.
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The chairman of the deacons at the church said the search for a new head pastor will soon be getting underway. They are in the process of forming a committee to begin that search.
“We are under control, but quite in shock,” Deacon Larry Bianchi said. “Personally, I keep thinking it is a really bad dream, and I am going to wake up from it, but unfortunately, this happens in society. It happens more often than not in places where children can be seen.. There’s a lot of children in church. It is a bad, bad, bad situation my preacher has gotten himself into, but we are no longer associated with him. It is hard to say that, but we are no longer associated with him and we are going to have to go forward from there.”
The church leaders said they conducted background checks before hiring Elwing, and he moved to the Palmetto area after working as a pastor in the Florida Keys.
“Everybody is tempted and sometimes we give into that temptation and now we have to deal with the aftermath of it,” Bianco said. “I hope and pray to God that we react correctly, we keep Palm View strong in the neighborhood, and people might come to worship there if they choose. That is my want, and that is the want of the congregation of Palm View Baptist Church.”
Did the chairman of the deacon’s board really call Elwing’s alleged sex crimes “temptations?” Really? Does this deacon think this is a one-off, akin to the preacher getting caught in bed with the deacon’s wife? How stupid and naive can you be?
Jonathan Elwing, 43, a pastor from Palmetto, Florida, is facing a minimum sentence of life without parole over harrowing child rape allegations. However, due to an updated Florida death penalty law, he could receive capital punishment if convicted.
According to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, police initially charged the father of four with four counts of possessing child pornography for using cryptocurrency to buy explicit images of children from the dark web. Detectives began investigating Elwing after a crypto-currency company tipped them about the purchases.
Days later, police conducted a search warrant at Elwing’s home and the church where he pastored. On his cell phone, they found explicit images of him sexually battering a 2-year-old. The images included his face and made obvious the identity and age of the child, court records show.
A grand jury indicted Elwing on July 10 for sexual battery of a child. He faces a minimum sentence of life without parole if convicted, but prosecutors could also press for the death penalty under a 2023 Florida law that allows for the ultimate sentence for sexual battery of a child under the age of 12. Juries in Florida need just eight of the 12 to agree to executio
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.
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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.
A church pastor from The Woodlands is in jail on child porn charges but details of his alleged crime haven’t been released.
Bruce Hollen, 63, is charged with possession with intent to promote child porn.
The pastor was arrested on Wednesday during an Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigation, the Montgomery County Precinct 3 Constable’s Office said.
….
Hollen was in court Friday afternoon and his bond was set at $30,000.
Under Texas law, promotion of child porn means to knowingly or intentionally possess material that visually depicts a child younger than 18 years of age at the time the image was created and depicts the child engaging in sexual conduct.
On Friday, Hollen was still featured prominently on the Calvary Chapel – The Woodlands Facebook page but he’s no longer listed on the church’s official website.
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.
Ralph Britt, Jr., a long-time youth worker at Dunwoody Baptist Church in Dunwoody, Georgia stands accused of nine counts of sexual exploitation of children. Dunwoody Baptist is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.
A church employee was arrested after Roswell police say they found child sexual abuse material at his home.
The investigation began on February 10, 2024, when Roswell detectives began looking into child sexual abuse material transmitted through peer-to-peer file-sharing networks.
This led detectives to Ralph Britt Jr., 59, Johns Creek home on April 24, where a search warrant was executed.
According to police, authorities found more child sexual abuse material at the home and took several electronic devices for processing.
Later that Wednesday, detectives met Britt at Dunwoody Baptist Church, where he was arrested.
At the time of his arrest, Britt was an employee of the church, where he reportedly worked closely with children and the youth in different capacities over the past 20 years.
RPD says the church has cooperated with the investigation, which remains active and ongoing.
Britt was booked into the Fulton County Jail on nine counts of sexual exploitation of children. Officials said more charges are forthcoming.
Channel 2′s Tom Regan was at the Dunwoody Baptist Church Tuesday, where church leaders said the news hit the congregation hard.
“We are shocked and devastated,” Pastor Allen Taliaferro said. “This is someone we have known for decades.”
Taliaferro said Britt was most recently involved in a drama production and was involved with several different ministry departments.
Church leaders broke the news to their 2,000 members in an email and conversations.
“This was tough to sit down and say to the church,” Taliaferro said.
Pastor Alan Jackson said there is no evidence that the crimes happened on church grounds.
“No evidence has been brought forward that any person-to-person contact took place, and no parent has brought any suspicious memories either,” Jackson said.
Church leaders said they did regular, rigorous background checks on Britt and have measures in place to protect children.
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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