Religion

The Pensacola News-Journal reports: The former Calvary Baptist Church youth director arrested for hiding a camera in the church bathroom to record people and possessing child pornography was sentenced to 50 years in state prison Friday after taking a plea agreement. David Nims, 40, was charged with 25 counts of child pornography possession and 16 counts of video voyeurism, and …

Atlanta First News reports: A Milton private school teacher was arrested after a 12-year-old girl was inappropriately touched at a Walmart in August, according to the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office. Kyle George, 43, was arrested and charged with sexual battery against a child under 16, the sheriff’s office said. According to booking reports, George was booked on Sept. 25 and was …

CNN reports: A drag queen who dressed as Jesus Christ and performed a rock rendition of The Lord’s Prayer has been arrested in the Philippines under the country’s obscenity laws, sparking a fierce debate about free speech and protections for members of the LGBTQ community. Amadeus Fernando Pagente, 33, whose drag name is Pura Luka Vega and who uses the …

West Palm Beach’s CBS affiliate reports: Michael Dolce, an attorney from West Palm Beach who fought for child sexual abuse victims, pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to possession of child pornography. Prosecutors say when he was arrested in March, he had nearly 1,997 images and five videos of child sexual abuse materials on his laptop. He faces a possible …

Click2Houston reports: A Houston-area pastor is facing serious charges after being accused of raping a child and impregnating her, court documents stated. According to an arrest warrant, the rape started when the victim was 7 years old and lasted into her late teen years, happening more than 600 times. With Robert L. Carter now charged with a felony, the alleged …

The Associated Press reports: In U.S. religion today, “the most important story without a shadow of a doubt is the unbelievable rise in the share of Americans who are nonreligious,” said Ryan Burge, a political science professor at Eastern Illinois University and author of “The Nones,” a book on the phenomenon. The nones account for a large portion of Americans, …

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports: An arrest warrant has been issued for a youth pastor after he was indicted on more than a dozen charges of sex crimes involving minors. Jairo Sanchez, 38, is wanted by the Butler County Sheriff’s Office, according to a report from law enforcement. The youth pastor was indicted on charges of gross sexual imposition, sexual imposition, …

Wausau’s ABC affiliate reports: A 52-year-old former Plover youth pastor was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Tuesday after previously pleading guilty to two counts of repeated acts of sexual assault. Jordan Huffman, 52, of Antigo will also have 20 years of extended supervision after serving his sentence. The charges stem from an assault in 2017 and lasted until …

Memphis’s NBC affiliate reports: A former Mid-South church leader and Christian school administrator who was indicted for sex crimes against a minor has been sentenced to six years in prison. John Brownlow faced eight charges related to the alleged grooming of a private school student during the pandemic. An Action News 5 Investigation revealed Brownlow was charged with persuading the …

Minnesota Public Radio reports: A former youth pastor at a Duluth church was jailed Tuesday and charged with sexually abusing five teenage girls. St. Louis County prosecutors said that Jackson M. Gatlin, 35, assaulted the teens between 2007 and 2010 while he worked at Vineyard Church. Gatlin is the son of former pastors Michael and Brenda Gatlin. The couple resigned …

Tulsa’s ABC affiliate reports: Tulsa Police arrested a man who worked as a pastor at a church and is accused of inappropriately touching a girl over a period of three years. The victim said Matthew Martinez was an associate pastor at New Heights Baptist Church and Academy near 21st and Memorial. She said Martinez first touched her hand and foot …

The National Catholic Reporter reports: Pope Francis has expressed openness to Catholic blessings for same-sex couples, under the condition they are not confused with marriage ceremonies for men and women, in what could be a watershed moment for the global Catholic Church. “Pastoral prudence must adequately discern whether there are forms of blessing, requested by one or several people, that …

Kalamazoo’s CBS affiliate reports: A former Michigan priest arrested by authorities who posed as a 15-year-old boy on the dating app Grindr has been convicted. Aaron Nowicki, 49, was convicted of child sexually abusive activity on Thursday, according to a news release from Chippewa County Prosecutor Robert L. Stratton. Nowicki resigned from priestly ministry in Jan. 2019 after it was …

The Associated Press reports: Five conservative cardinals from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas have challenged Pope Francis to affirm Catholic teaching on homosexuality and female ordination ahead of a big Vatican meeting where such hot-button issues are up for debate. The cardinals on Monday published five questions they submitted to Francis, known as “dubia,” as well as an open …

The Washington Post reports: The Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore filed for bankruptcy protection Friday, less than two days before a new state law takes effect allowing victims of child sexual abuse to sue institutions, no matter how long ago the abuse took place. Federal bankruptcy law halts all lawsuits against an entity that files for bankruptcy. Instead, the legal action …

Long Island’s Newsday reports: A Brentwood pastor was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Thursday and in charged in federal court with the sexual exploitation of a minor after he allegedly admitted coercing a teenage boy into taking and sending graphic photographs he then shared with others, court records show. Jose Saez Jr., the 28-year-old pastor of Iglesia Cristiana …

WKHY radio reports: An Iredell County pastor has been sentenced to four years in prison after entering a guilty plea on child pornography charges. 66-year-old Tony Ernest Bunton of Statesville, pleaded guilty Monday (September 25) in Iredell County Superior Court to two counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor. By pleading guilty, Bunton admitted that he distributed, transported, exhibited, …

The Times Of Israel reports: Two months after proclaiming that July would henceforth be known locally as “American Christian Heritage Month,” the board of supervisors in El Dorado County, California has reversed course. The county’s elected governing body unanimously rescinded the proclamation Tuesday following backlash from local Jews, the American Civil Liberties Union, and others who said it inappropriately advanced …

Jacksonville’s NBC affiliate reports: Early last month, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said it was made aware of allegations of misconduct by a church youth group leader, Gregory Norton. Norton, 58, was accused of sexually molesting a teen that he met through functions at Oak Hill Church: Church of the Nazarene, according to JSO. The incident reportedly happened years earlier at …

Des Moines’ CBS affiliate reports: A former Cambridge pastor accused of drugging and sexually abusing a child appeared at the Story County Courthouse Monday morning for a plea hearing and sentencing. Prosecutors say Mark Benson, 69, gave a young girl medicine to make her sleep, then sexually assaulted her several times between 2009 and 2012, when she was between 10 …