Jason Keller, pastor of Freedom Family Church in Liberty, North Carolina, and former elementary school principal of Union Grove Christian School, was convicted last week of six counts of felonious sexual offense with a student and two counts of taking indecent liberties with a student. Keller was sentenced to four to five years for five of the counts of felonious sexual offense with a student and thirty months on supervised probation after being released from prison.
The Winston-Salem Journal reports:
A prominent businessman, educator, and pastor has been convicted in Davidson County of engaging in sexual activity with a student.
On Wednesday, Jason Wesley Keller, 42, was convicted in Davidson County of six counts of felonious sexual offense with a student and two counts of taking indecent liberties with a student, according to Assistant District Attorney Marissa Parker. Keller was sentenced to four to five years for five of the counts of felonious sexual offense with a student. He will spend 30 months on supervised probation after he is released from prison for the other three counts.
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Keller was charged with engaging in sexual acts with a student and taking indecent liberties with a student, according to his indictment.
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The investigation began in 2009, but charges were not brought against him until 2019 when the student, now an adult, reached out to law enforcement to re-report the alleged sexual misconduct and press charges, arrest warrants said.
Keller was the acting elementary school principal and assistant principal of Union Grove Christian School where the victim also attended, the warrants said. He engaged in sexual activity with her between August 2008 and May 2009, according to the warrants.
Keller continued to be active in civic and church groups after being charged.
Keller also served as a pastor at Freedom Family Church in Liberty. The church did not respond to a request for comment. It was unclear Thursday if Keller still worked at the church.
According to a 2019 article in Forsyth Family Magazine, Keller said he was on an advisory committee that worked with high school students in Forsyth County. Spokesman for the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Brent Campbell said it would be difficult to confirm Keller’s role with students in the district.
Keller is listed as the lead ambassador for the Lewisville-Clemmons Chamber of Commerce Chamber Ambassadors. Interim director of the Lewisville-Clemmons Chamber of Commerce Denise Heidel did not respond to a voicemail request for comment about Keller’s status there.
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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