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Former Seacoast Youth Leader Avoids Prison Time After Pleading Guilty to Inappropriately Touching Girls

By Liz Lykins
willis seacoast
On Thuresday, Vernon Tyrell Willis pled guilty to two counts of second-degree assault and battery and seven counts of third-degree assault and battery. (TRR Graphic / Charleston County Sheriff's Office)

A former youth leader at multi-site Seacoast Church in North and South Carolina, who admitted inappropriately touching numerous teenage girls, aged 13-16, has avoided prison thanks to a plea deal, court records show.

Vernon Tyrell Willis pled guilty to two counts of second-degree assault and battery and seven counts of third-degree assault and battery last Thursday, The Post and Courier reportado.

He previously worked as the student ministry leader at Seacoast Church, a multi-site megachurch associated with the Association of Related Churches (ARC). ARC is one of the largest church planting networks in North America and has been plagued with financial and sexual scandals en años recientes.

Ninth Circuit Judge Roger Young sentenced Willis to three years of probation at the hearing, allowing Willis to avoid prison time, The Post and Courier said.

Willis is also required to attend boundary counseling, according to court records. He will receive credit for 28 days he previously served in jail before being released with an ankle monitor.

Your tax-deductible gift helps our journalists report the truth and hold Christian leaders and organizations accountable. Give a gift of $50 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you can elect to receive a copy of “Safe Church: How to Guard Against Sexism and Abuse in Christian Communities’ by Dr. Andrew Bauman, haga clic aquí.

Seacoast Church North Charleston, South Carolina
Seacoast Church, North Charleston campus. (Photo via social media)

Willis was first charged in 2023 for “touching juvenile females without their consent,” El Informe Roys (TRR) previamente reportado.

North Charleston police identified around 10 victims at the time that he touched between 2019 and 2022, according to court records.

Several of Willis’ 13 charges were later dismissed due to uncooperative witnesses, the records noted.

TRR reached out to Willis’ attorney, Edward Phipps, for comment but did not hear back prior to publication.

Victim ‘forever changed’ by abuse

At Thursday’s hearing, a victim testified against Willis, stating that her life was “forever changed” when he touched her buttocks without her consent when she was 13, The Post and Courier reported.

The girl, now age 16, said she’s spent the past few years altering her hair and dress to be “less seen” because she is ashamed of what happened to her, according to The Post and Courier.

“I wish I could go back and change so many things,” she reportedly said at the hearing. “I want (him) to know what he did to me was wrong.”

Another victim’s mother attended the hearing and spoke on behalf of her daughter, The Post and Courier said.

“We trusted you with one of the most precious things on this earth, our daughter,” the mother said. “You manipulated us and all of these other parents. You groomed these girls.”

charleston
Circuit Court of the Ninth Judicial Circuit in Charleston, S.C. (Screengrab)

Attorney Phipps, who said he is a longtime friend of the Willis family, said the charges were a result of boundary struggles. Willis allegedly was confused about appropriate boundaries during hugs at Seacoast.

“The difficulty is he lingered in his hug a little too long,” Phipps said, according to The Post and Courier. “It’s unfortunate that it’s gotten to this point. . . . He’s not a threat.” 

He said that Willis has no prior record and struggled with boundaries because of his upbringing.  Phipps said Willis had a difficult relationship with his biological parents and was homeless several times.

At the end of the hearing, Willis apologized to the courtroom.

“I can assure you, your honor, that with every fiber and bone in my body that I will do my best to grow, to be more aware, to become more boundary-prone in my actions,” Willis reportedly said. “I understand your trust has been broken, I understand that a lot of hearts have been lost in my actions, and I will do all that I can to become a better person.” 

Seacoast reportedly knew about Willis’ behavior for years

Following Willis’ charges in 2023, Seacoast claimed it “immediately placed” Willis on leave and barred him from campus.

However, Seacoast reportedly knew about the inappropriate behavior as early as 2020, TRR informado.

Despite this, the church continued to employ Willis “without providing any training or supervision,” said Mark Peper, an attorney retained by several Seacoast families.

seacoast church
Worship service at Seacoast Church in Charleston, South Carolina. (Photo: Facebook)

En una entrevista exclusiva con TRR, parents of one of the victims said church leaders were “gaslighting” them and others who attempted to “tell the truth” about Willis.

The couple added that Seacoast teen girls trusted Willis, but he was in fact “grooming” them.

Seacoast, which has a total of 13 campuses, was founded by Greg Surratt, one of four co-founders of the controversial ARC.

Another co-founder of ARC, Chris Hodges, renunció abruptamente from Church of the Highlands (COTH), based in Birmingham, Alabama, last Sunday. COTH is one of the largest megachurches in the country with an average weekly attendance of about 60,000 people.

Liz Lykins is a correspondent covering religion news for The Roys Report, WORLD Magazine, and other publications.

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Your tax-deductible gift helps our journalists report the truth and hold Christian leaders and organizations accountable. Give a gift of $50 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you can elect to receive a copy of “Safe Church: How to Guard Against Sexism and Abuse in Christian Communities’ by Dr. Andrew Bauman.