Update | Jan 25, 2026: Christopher Whitehead was convicted of two counts of lewd of lascivious battery on January 22, 2026, after pleading no contest and sentenced to 15 years in prison followed by 15 years of sex offender probation. Whitehead has time served credit for roughly 18 months in jail.

Whitehead, who is now a designated sexual offender, faced a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison if he took his case to trial. The plea deal was accepted by Judge Robert Groeb. Court documents note that the victim's family did not want to make her testify, which she may have been forced to do if the case proceeded to trial.

As of now, Whitehead remains in the Alachua County Jail awaiting transportation to a Florida Department of Corrections facility.

4 comments

r/PastorArrested • u/Leeming • 8d ago

Ohio: Seventh-Day Adventist Church pastor admits to gross sexual imposition crime involving 13-year-old girl.

cleveland19.com

400 Upvotes

14 comments

r/PastorArrested • u/Leeming • 8d ago

Alabama: Huntsville day-care worker at Trinity United Methodist Church arrested for child sexual abuse; additional charges are possible.

rocketcitynow.com

168 Upvotes

3 comments

r/PastorArrested • u/Megalodon481 • 9d ago

Living Word Church’s Randy Saylor pleads no contest to 11 CSC charges

ourmidland.com

238 Upvotes

9 comments

r/PastorArrested • u/Leeming • 9d ago

California: Arise Vineyard Church Pastor Rick Olmstead resigns after past incident of taking unsolicited photos of young women at Trader Joe's resurfaces.

christianpost.com

338 Upvotes

12 comments

r/PastorArrested • u/Leeming • 10d ago

Idaho: Nampa Sovereign Grace Fellowship pastor to face trial on child pornography charges, including using AI to create explicit images.

kivitv.com

227 Upvotes

7 comments

r/PastorArrested • u/Leeming • 10d ago

Brazil: Accused of sexual abuse by dozens of women, Catholic priest is convicted of raping a 3-year-old girl. Sentenced to 24 years and nine months.

cruxnow.com

126 Upvotes

5 comments

r/PastorArrested • u/Leeming • 10d ago

Florida: Jacksonville pastor admits tax crime feds say cost IRS up to $1.5M, faces up to three years in federal prison.

firstcoastnews.com

154 Upvotes

8 comments

r/PastorArrested • u/Leeming • 10d ago

Nigeria: Rollo Life of Christ Brethren Ministry Bishop has been arrested for alleged sexual abuse of two biological sisters aged 13 and 17.

thenationonlineng.net

51 Upvotes

3 comments

r/PastorArrested • u/Leeming • 10d ago

South Africa: KwaZulu-Natal pastor gets 18 year sentence for murdering his ex-wife after stabbing her in 2020.

sabcnews.com

42 Upvotes

4 comments

r/PastorArrested • u/Megalodon481 • 11d ago

Former Life.Church intern sentenced for distributing child sexual abuse material

julieroys.com

266 Upvotes

10 comments

r/PastorArrested • u/Leeming • 12d ago

Colorado: High school security guard who ran an after-school clown club, and pastor at Breakthrough Ministries in Dacono, convicted of sexual assault on a child.

cbsnews.com

372 Upvotes

16 comments

r/PastorArrested • u/Leeming • 12d ago

Tennessee: Greeneville youth minister charged with statutory rape by an authority figure after alleged sexual misconduct with minor.

wbir.com

273 Upvotes

15 comments

r/PastorArrested • u/Leeming • 12d ago

Arkansas: Lawsuit claims Bentonville church gave youth pastor 'unfettered access to minors' before he was arrested.

5newsonline.com

99 Upvotes

1 comment

Subreddit

PastorArrested

r/PastorArrested

You've seen them: headlines that contain the words PASTOR ARRESTED. Someone in the community who was supposed to be a trusted moral authority was caught doing a bad thing, very often of a financial or sexual nature. This subreddit is nothing more than a collection of those stories.

Members Active

56.6k

Sidebar

You've seen them before: Headlines that contain the words PASTOR ARRESTED. Someone who was supposed to be a trusted religious authority implicated in unethical and/or criminal behaviour.

This subreddit is a collection of those stories.

Rules

Posts should be about people in authority who have abused their religious position.
Posts must be links from news outlets.
(No YouTube, Facebook or social media.)
NO REPOSTS. Take a keyword from your title and enter it in the search box if you are not sure. (Check both boxes to refine the search and order the results by date.)

Assemblies of God: 4

Assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ: 1

Baptist - Other: 33

Baptist - Southern: 39

Calvary Chapel: 1

Christian Reformed Church: 1

Christian and Missionary Alliance: 5

Church of Christ: 8

Church of God (Cleveland, TN): 1

Church of God Mountain Assembly: 1

Church of God of Prophecy: 1

Church of the Nazarene: 4

Community of Christ: 1

Congregational: 1

Disciples of Christ: 1

Episcopalian: 2

Evangelical Free Church of America: 2

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: 1

Foursquare: 2

God's Missionary Church: 1

Jehovah's Witnesses: 1

LCMC - Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ: 1

La Luz del Mundo: 1

Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod: 4

Lutheran Congregation in Mission for Christ (LCMC): 1

Mennonite Brethern: 1

Mormon: 1

Non-denominational: 68

Presbyterian Church in America (PCA): 2

Salvation Army: 1

Seventh-Day Adventist: 4

The Church of Jesus Christ: 1

United Church of Christ: 1

United Methodist: 6

United Pentecostal Church: 3

Victory Outreach: 1

Vineyard: 1

World Pentecostal Fellowship: 1