Tag Archives: Youth Pastor

Greenville’s NBC affiliate reports: A former youth pastor first arrested last year in Greenwood County, South Carolina, for voyeurism now faces dozens more charges across the state, officials said. Lt. Kevin Bobo with the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday that deputies have now finished their investigation on Daniel Kellan Mayfield, 36, of Boiling Springs. “A majority of these incidents …

Michigan Live reports: An Ypsilanti-area youth pastor is accused of forcing a girl to perform oral sex on him and using a social media app to arrange payment for photographs of children, according to police. Zachary Joseph Radcliff, 29, allegedly used Snapchat to arrange meetups with children where he would pay them for videos and photographs, Sgt. Gilberto Oliveria with …

The Birmingham News reports: An Alabama youth pastor is facing sex trafficking charges in Florida after he allegedly sex trafficked a girl in multiple states. Stephen Johnson, 40, whom prosecutors said has volunteered as a youth pastor at an unnamed Birmingham church for more than a decade, met the victim on social media when she was 12 years old and …

From the Justice Department: A 41-year-old Claremont, California man was convicted yesterday of abusive sexual contact aboard an aircraft enroute to Seattle from Burbank, California, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Justin Baker was arrested March 14, 2024, when the Alaska Airlines plane arrived at SEA. Baker was taken into custody again yesterday immediately after the jury returned its guilty …

Charleston’s ABC affiliate reports: A Darlington County youth pastor allegedly had sexual misconduct with a minor, according to the sheriff’s office. Andrew Payne was arrested and charged with sex/criminal sexual conduct with a minor in the third degree commit/attempt lewd act. At the time of this incident, Payne was the minor’s youth pastor, the sheriff’s office confirmed. Payne turned himself …

Grand Rapids’ ABC affiliate reports: Daniel Byron DeVries, of Fruitport Township, originally faced six felony counts of aggravated possession of child sexually abusive material and three counts of using a computer to commit a crime. This week, he pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child sexually abusive material and one count of using a computer to commit a …

Abilene’s CBS affiliate reports: An Abilene preschool employee has pleaded guilty to producing child pornography. Mark Eichorn pleading guilty to Production of Child Pornography in Federal court Tuesday morning. He will be sentenced for the crime after a pre-sentencing investigation. Court documents state Eichorn was acting as a “sugar daddy” for children in another state, paying them to send the …

Dallas’s ABC affiliate reports:  An Ellis County former youth pastor with a history of child sex assault offenses was sentenced to 50 years in prison for sexually abusing underage victims who attended his church. Marvin Scales, 53, of Waxahachie, pleaded guilty on Monday to two counts of sexual abuse of a young child, one count of aggravated sexual assault of …

Dallas’s ABC affiliate reports: The youth director of a Denton church has been arrested after a parent and their child accused him of inappropriate behavior with teenagers, police say. According to police, the suspect, 63-year-old Craig Stone, was charged with indecency with a child and possession of child pornography, both felonies. Stone is listed as the youth director and president …

Tampa’s Fox affiliate reports: The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is looking for possible additional victims after one of its former deputies who was also a youth group pastor in Riverview was arrested on child molestation charges. Deputies say they went to a Hillsborough County home on February 24, 2023, to investigate a report of an adult man possibly molesting a …

The Morganton News-Herald reports: Aaron Mirtsching, 42, pleaded guilty Tuesday morning to three counts of statutory sex offense with a child, one count of statutory sex offense with a 13-, 14- or 15-year-old and five counts of indecent liberties with a minor, according to an official with the Burke County Clerk of Court’s Office. He was sentenced Friday to spend …

The Rockville Herald reports: Former North Carolina police officer Erickson Douglas Lee showed up in York County court Friday on child sex charges a day late and still received a plea deal. The former church volunteer failed to appear Thursday for what was supposed to be a guilty plea for an eight-year sentence. On Friday, he received a sentence of …

The Batavia Daily News reports: A former youth pastor who took secret videos of a girl changing out of a bathing suit will serve seven years in prison. Nathan L. Rogers, 39, of East Aurora was sentenced Thursday in federal court for the incident that occurred in 2019 at Six Flags Darien Lake. Rogers was arrested shortly afterward. He was …

Winston-Salem’s NBC affiliate reports: Detectives in High Point have arrested and charged a man after a months-long sexual assault investigation involving teen victims. High Point police report they arrested James R. Murphey, 44, of High Point early Thursday morning. Officers found him at a home in High Point. Murphey is charged with 30 counts of sexual battery. Detectives said the …

Tampa’s NBC affiliate reports: A U.S. Army veteran and church youth group leader was arrested in Hillsborough County over a decade after sexually assaulting a teenager, the sheriff’s office said in a news release. A person came forward earlier this month and accused Derek Zitko, 52, of lewd or lascivious battery and molestation in 2013, according to HCSO. Detectives said …

The Roys Report reports: A pastor who led a “generation of youth” in Virginia has been charged with 19 counts of sexual abuse, including 10 counts of forcible sodomy and eight counts of indecent liberties with a child while in a custodial role. David Lawrence Schneider, of Farnham, Virginia was also charged on Aug. 9 with aggravated sexual battery, according …

Los Angeles’s CW affiliate reports: An Orange County church ministry volunteer was sentenced to over 120 years in prison for molesting young girls. Todd Christian Hartman, 41, of Newport Beach, was convicted of molesting several young minors and possessing hundreds of explicit images of children. Hartman had repeatedly molested a girl beginning when she was 6 years old, officials said. …

Pensacola’s CBS affiliate reports: The now-former principal of a private school in Holmes County has been arrested and faces sex charges in connection with inappropriate relations involving a student. According to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and county court filings, law enforcement officials received an initial case assignment on May 30 regarding alleged sexual misconduct between a juvenile and 28-year-old …

Birmingham’s ABC affiliate reports: A youth minister was in court for sex crimes Wednesday. Terry Murphree is charged with nearly 20 counts of sex crimes including rape and clergy having sex with a child and human trafficking. Not only is Murphree accused of raping a 13-year-old child, Blount County Investigators also say he sexually assaulted four more underage girls and …

Columbus’s CBS affiliate reports: On Tuesday, 39-year-old Terry Murphree of Oneonta was booked into the Blount County Jail on the following charges: first-degree rape, sexual abuse of a child less than 12 years old, nine counts of Clergy-sexual intercourse with a child, electronic solicitation, human trafficking, traveling to meet a child to perform a sexual act, three counts of first-degree …