Lindsey Whiteside, a former Mississippi youth pastor, has been charged with sexually assaulting an underage girl, according to an arrest indictment.
Whiteside served as youth pastor at Getwell Church in Hernando, Mississippi, and was indicted by a grand jury last month for sexual battery of a minor, the indictment said.
The jury said Whiteside intentionally and knowingly assaulted a child less than 18 years of age between May 14, 2024, and November 16, 2024. While the indictment does not specify where this assault occurred, it said that Whiteside was in a “position of trust or authority over the child.”
Whiteside, 26, was arrested in November and charged with one count of felony sexual battery against a minor, according to the indictment. She faces up to 30 years in prison if she is convicted.
The Southaven, Mississippi, native plead not guilty to the charge on December 30, according to registros de la corte.
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Getwell Church leadership told El Informe Roys (TRR) via email that Whiteside is no longer employed at the church.
“Her employment was terminated as soon as the allegations came to light,” church leadership said.
When asked whether the charges against Whiteside occurred at the church or involved church members, leadership said it has no other information available at this time.
DeSoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton told Action 5 News that Whiteside also previously served as a basketball coach at DeSoto Central High School.
“Lindsey Whiteside served as a youth ministry leader and basketball coach—positions that carry a profound responsibility to protect and guide others,” Barton said. “Sexual abuse and exploitation inflict lasting harm on victims, that often last for a lifetime.”
Barton urged any other potential victims to come forward.
“We understand that coming forward as a victim can be incredibly difficult, especially in cases involving trusted figures,” Barton said. “Every victim deserves to be heard, and our office is committed to ensuring their voices are not silenced.”
Whiteside is currently out of jail on a $60,000 bond, according to registros de la corte.
Whiteside Didn’t Plan to Work in Ministry
Whiteside started working at Getwell Church in 2022, according to a correo on her Facebook page.
“Never in my wildest dreams would I have been working full time for a church, but oh how the Lord had other plans,” Whiteside said in the post. “It’s true what they say. . . living within the call the Lord has placed on your life is far greater than any other detail.”
In Whiteside’s now-removed profile on Getwell Church’s website, she shared how her “deepest passion is for everyone to experience Jesus in the same way I have.”
“Through student ministry, missions, or any other ministry, I am so thankful that the Lord has called me to Getwell Hernando where I can pursue that passion both inside and outside the walls of the church,” she said, according to an archived version of the webpage. “It is an honor that the Lord calls us all to participate in His Kingdom.”
Whiteside revealed in an interview shared on Getwell Church’s YouTube how she didn’t plan to work as a youth pastor.
She said that because she played basketball in college, initially a job in ministry didn’t line up with her idea of success.
She suppressed her “call” to ministry for a long time because in her eyes “that was not where people would see me as successful, that’s not what would bring me like the most praise, and so all very selfish things.”
Whiteside’s Facebook page includes numerous posts of her participating in church activities and spending time with students. A recent correo pictures her baptizing someone with the caption, “Been one of those really fun weeks as your local student pastor.”
Prior to her job at Getwell, Whiteside served as a basketball coach at DeSoto Central High School—the same school where her father had coached basketball. She also played basketball in high school and in college for Rhodes College y Universidad Lipscomb.
Shamekia Golliday, a parent with a teenager at Desoto Central High School, told News 3 that Whiteside’s arrest has been concerning for the community.
“I just think that anyone that is an adult should be held accountable for their actions,” Golliday said. “These are children. Their minds aren’t fully developed yet, so she should be held accountable for her actions. Right is right and wrong is wrong.”
Liz Lykins is a correspondent covering religion news for The Roys Report, WORLD Magazine, and other publications.
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11 Responses
No religious leader should ever take advantage of their position of authority to abuse those in their flock. No abuser should get away with their crime. Thank God she was reported. We all need to continue to speak against spiritual & sexual abuse. I pray those harmed by leaders get help and are able to recover. I pray for no one to hide or “sweep abuse under the rug”.
So troubling that so many “youth pastors” are sexually abusing children. How is this happening? Why so many? What are “entertainment” churches doing to promote this behavior? Who is the focus on in these “churches”? Jesus or self?
Agreed, it is troubling. But we’re reading a site that reports on abuse in the church. How many times do we hear from the secular press about volunteers, mentors, coaches, teachers, counselors, and even medical practitioners accused of abuse outside religious settings? Over my two decades as a parent who pays attention, I can testify that such stories have been legion everywhere I’ve lived.
Note that Whiteside was also a coach at a public high school at one point, and is the daughter of a prominent local figure. The truly disturbing thing is, predation (and its close cousin false accusation) is a human phenomenon from which no group is exempt, regardless of purpose or identity, size or shape.
Gather people together, and statistics might become reality in any number of frightening ways. Institutions can and should do better regarding safety for the vulnerable, but no system of belief or practice is a fail-safe against error or ill intent.
Isn’t all of this really just confirmation of the darkness underlying the human condition? Even more tragic would be if we let manifestations of this very basic doctrine shake our faith. Or worse, if we sit back and say, “Well, at least my church is not like that church.”
Hear what you’re saying Michael, but perhaps Elaine had in mind the fact that true Christianity entails ‘higher standards’ such as faith in God through Christ and responsive righteous living as seen through Jesus’ life and the fruits of the spirit. Hence, the main premise of this site for Christians in general, and anyone who claims to be a spiritual-pastoral leader within a church specifically, is faith made evident through godly behaviour and godly ethics – godliness.
Other organisations and bodies understandably embrace or are compelled by laws, codes of conducts, policies, and changable socially acceptable standards and practices. But they do not necessarily have their very identity, purpose, and future in such things, as the church does with faith and Kingdom values that also transcend this life.
Bendiciones.
I think understand what you’re getting at, Ian; one might certainly hope true believers would act like they actually believe God is omniscient. Christians, especially church leaders, are supposed to believe in final judgment.
But 2,000 years of church history tells us there are a lot of unbelievers in and even leading the institutional church. The New Testament warns of wolves in the herd, some even posing as shepherds. Most traditions within the bounds of orthodoxy and the preponderance of biblical evidence also tell us that salvation does not mean we are ever fully sanctified and perfected in this life. As a separate matter, personality disorders and disordered identities are a thing, and this leads to all kinds of drama, in and out of the church.
So, for all of these reasons, we must prepare ourselves for the fact that human depravity knows no bounds, least of all creed. If we place our faith in the behavior of human beings, sooner or later we are going to be disappointed. That said, if you know of a church or denomination 100% free of scandal, do let us know.
Michael: Thank you for the reason and understanding in your posts here. It is refreshing.
“true Christianity entails ‘higher standards’ such as faith in God through Christ and responsive righteous living as seen through Jesus’ life and the fruits of the spirit.”
Unfortunately, that is no longer being preached, and some preachers are now openly boasting they are proud they are called hypocrites as “proof” they are true Christians.
Yes Andrew, though we should never take ourselves too seriously in light of our fallibilities and personal idiocrascies, this ‘self-deprecating trend’ that some people intentionally utilise is both deceptive and maniputing.
Not new of course and often a tool of trade of those who have conconscious or unconscious self-serving motives.
Somewhat off subject, but close just the same. Did you hear about the church who presented their pastor with a medal because of his humility?
They eventually took the medal off him because he would not stop wearing it. 😹 Dad joke!
This is totally demonic. This woman is demon infested. When discernment of the Body (commanded by Yahshua) is absent, Children suffer, along with the demon possessed adults. Yahshua commanded us to “cast out demons; cleanse the leper; heal the sick; raise the dead.” To fail to do this is sin.
When I was 17 years old ( in the ‘ 70s) and had recently lost my dad in a farming accident, my youth pastor call me and asked to meet with me and not tell anyone. I said no….thankfully. My heart goes out to all the young victims that are fallen prey.
This is the sort of story that disagree with publishing. I do not believe this should always be the case. For those who have plead guilty or been found guilty, or even those who were arrested because the police found illegal material. Those are the stories that the Roys Report should focus on. When I read a story where one person has come forward and accused someone of sexual crimes or abuse, but there is no concrete evidence, other than one word against another, I do not think those stories should published. Perhaps there is evidence in this case and that is why the lady was arrested….but allegations do not make a person guilty. The Roy’s report can potentially ruin someone’s life by publishing allegations that turn out false…because it does happen.