The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
In 2018, Nashimen McKinnon, youth pastor at Antioch Bible Fellowship in Fayetteville, North Carolina, was accused of taking indecent liberties with a child.
The News & Observer reported at the time:
A Cumberland County youth pastor is accused of taking indecent liberties with a child during a sleepover he hosted at his Hope Mills home.
Nashimen McKinnon, 30, of Pleasantburg Drive is charged with three counts of indecent liberties with a child, according to arrest records. McKinnon told deputies he is a youth leader at Antioch Bible Fellowship.
McKinnon called the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office on Jan. 1 and told a deputy that he “touched a child five to six months ago,” according to a news release from the sheriff’s office. McKinnon said he lay beside a girl on the floor during a sleepover for church youth last July and inappropriately touched her over her clothes.
An investigation following McKinnon’s admission found that he inappropriately touched the same girl on at least two other occasions at church-related events. Deputies said McKinnon also said he sent the girl inappropriate text messages as recently as December.
The sheriff’s office said McKinnon contacted deputies on January 1 and asked for a deputy to come to his home because he had “touched a child five to six months ago at a sleepover.”
Deputies went to McKinnon’s home on Pleasantburg Drive in Hope Mills and completed a report and then took him for an interview at the Law Enforcement Center.
Deputies said McKinnon told them that at the sleepover, he lay next on the floor next to a minor and touched her breasts and buttocks on top of her clothing. McKinnon said he did not know whether the victim was aware of his actions. McKinnon also stated that he sent the victim inappropriate text messages in December 2017.
The sheriff’s office said the investigation revealed at least two other instances, at church-related events, where McKinnon is suspected of inappropriately touching the victim.
According to the North Carolina Offender Registry, McKinnon was convicted on April 11, 2018, and given probation. He is a registered sex offender. Why McKinnon received probation is unknown.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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