Religion

Salt Lake City’s NBC affiliate reports: A former youth leader from Springville has admitted to sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy after police say he paid the boy thousands of dollars not to tell anyone. Kevin Sykes, 55, pleaded guilty Feb. 9 to attempted aggravated sex abuse of a child and aggravated sex abuse of a child, first-degree felonies, plus three …

Dallas’s ABC affiliate reports: More than 30 law enforcement agencies around North Texas arrested nearly 60 people in a month-long operation aimed at rescuing child victims of online sexual exploitation. The operation, Operation Janus, resulted in 80 charges against 59 people, and rescued 28 children from online sexual abuse, police said. Plano Detective Jeff Rich said some of the suspects …

Fort Worth’s CBS affiliate reports: Friday morning, at the Sherman Federal Courthouse, former Denison youth leader Chad Michael Rider was sentenced to 720 months in federal prison. District Judge Amos Mazzant gave Rider a total of 60 years for sexually exploiting children and producing child pornography, stacking two 30 year sentences on three charges. Both Rider, 48 and co-conspirator former …

The New York Post reports: An ugly brawl broke out after a heated soccer game between two private high schools — one Jewish and the other Catholic — in Miami this week, with some players saying they were hit with anti-Semitic slurs. Footage of the incident between Scheck Hillel Community School and Archbishop Coleman Carroll High School shows players battling. …

From the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office: On February 9, 2023, #teamHCSO’s Human Trafficking Section began investigating a case after a mother found disturbing content on her 16-year-old’s cell phone. Through investigative means, detectives were able to learn that Moises Escoto, 36, of Temple Terrace, had made contact with the victim two years earlier on a chat and meetup app called …

The BBC reports: A pastor in Mozambique has died after trying to fast for 40 days, emulating what Christ is said to have done in the Bible. Francisco Barajah, founder of the Santa Trindade Evangelical Church, died at a hospital in the city of Beira, where he was evacuated in critical condition. After 25 days without food or water, he …

Evansville’s NBC affiliate reports: Police say an Evansville man has been arrested again for sex crimes against children. 21-year-old Joshua Leduc was arrested Wednesday night. He’s charged with child seduction and child molesting. Leduc was arrested last year after police say he molested a young child several times while he worked as a pre-school teacher at Bethel United Church of …

Northwest Missouri News reports: Daviess County authorities have charged a Hamilton woman with seven felony counts of sex crimes with a child. It is alleged that twenty-nine-year-old Anastasia Dawson engaged in illicit activity with the minor while she was the victim’s church leader. A probable cause statement issued by the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office says Dawson later paid the victim …

Law & Crime reports: A 31-year-old church deacon in Florida will spend more than two decades behind bars for secretly filming young boys using the bathroom inside the church where he served and possessing “hundreds, if not thousands” of child pornography images and videos, prosecutors said. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor sentenced Jonathan High, a former deacon of …

New details on yesterday’s servant of Jesus: A Wyandotte pastor accused of abusing a child sent several sexually suggestive and inappropriate text messages to a juvenile victim, including one message about “wanting to smell her underwear,” court documents show. Fred McCoy Gammon, Jr, 42, of Miami, is charged in Ottawa County District Court with child sexual abuse. He is free …

The Macon Telegraph reports: A Macon pastor pleaded guilty Monday to child molestation and other charges related to an incident in which prosecutors said he offered a girl in her early teens — a stranger to him — a ride home from a sporting event at Stratford Academy as part of ruse to sexually assault her. Donald Eugene Williams, 33, …

The Christian Post reports: Controversial televangelist and prosperity preacher Peter Popoff, who amassed millions of dollars through his ministry hawking “debt cancelation” and healing “miracle water” advertised as a “powerful biblical point of contact,” is now selling his California mansion for $8.1 million. “Situated on 2.27 acres of stunning manicured grounds offering privacy plus stunning mountain & city light views,” …

Joplin’s NBC affiliate reports: A warrant was issued Monday for a Wyandotte pastor. Fred McCoy Gammon, Jr, 42, of Miami, is charged in Ottawa County District Court with child sexual abuse. A $35,000 warrant was also issued on Monday, court records show. Gammon is the pastor of Wayside Assembly of God church in Wyandotte. The church has taken down its …

The Christian Post reports: The Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 in Super Bowl LVII Sunday night. While the Eagles led through the entire first half of the game, the Chiefs came from behind in the second half to secure a tie-breaking victory with a field goal in the final seconds of the game. In postgame remarks after making a …

Indianapolis’s NBC affiliate reports: A 52-year-old day care director in Cumblerland is facing multiple charges after she allegedly gave melatonin gummies to kids without their parents’ consent. According to court documents, Tonya Rachelle Voris ran the Kidz Life Childcare Ministry at New Life Church. Court documents said pastor David Faulk told Cumberland police of potential child neglect at the day …

“My Christian faith plays a role in everything that I do. I mean, I always ask God to lead me in the right direction and let me be who I am for his name. So, it has a role in everything that I did. “And, obviously, it will be on a huge stage in the Super Bowl that he’s given …

The Ohio Times-Reporter reports: A 60-year-old man who formerly volunteered with a church youth ministry has received a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 20 years for raping and committing other sex offenses against two girls. Tuscarawas County Judge Michael J. Ernest sentenced Jeffrey A. Pringle Thursday on three counts of child rape and four counts of gross …

Denver’s CBS affiliate reports: Denver police and prosecutors are pursuing a rape case against a man who served as the music director at St. John’s School and church in southeast Denver, according to a CBS News Colorado investigation. Diego Marroquin, 36, is facing one charge of sexual assault on a child under the age of 15 by a person in …

NBC News reports: Pope Francis, the head of the Anglican Communion and top Presbyterian minister together denounced the criminalization of homosexuality on Sunday and said gay people should be welcomed by their churches. The three Christian leaders spoke out on LGBTQ rights during an unprecedented joint airborne news conference returning home from South Sudan, where they took part in a …

The Fairbanks Daily News reports: A local youth pastor indicted Wednesday on one count of felony second-degree sexual abuse of a minor was arrested Friday after turning himself in to Alaska State Troopers. David Duffett, 45, is listed on the Bible Baptist Church of Fairbanks’ website as the youth director, bus ministries director and teacher of the Teen Church and …