An Ohio pastor and former county commissioner candidate was charged this week with public indecency for engaging in a “sex act” with a woman in the back seat of an SUV.
Aaron Williams, Jr., 56, pastor of Maddox Memorial Church of God and community leader in Mansfield, Ohio, pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge in Mansfield Municipal Court on Thursday, registros de la corte show. Mansfield, pop. 47,534, is located in hilly north-central Ohio about halfway between Columbus and Cleveland.
The 46-year-old woman in the vehicle with Williams wasn’t Williams’ wife, according to information on the church’s website. The woman was also charged with public indecency and also pleaded not guilty.
El Informe Roys (TRR) reached out to the woman but didn’t receive a response. Williams wouldn’t comment to TRR on whether the woman was a church member. Her name is tagged a couple times on the church’s Facebook page, including a spot among the church’s “top fans.”
TRR isn’t naming the woman because TRR doesn’t name alleged sexual abuse victims. According to abuse experts, sexual behavior by a pastor toward an adult under their care, who is in a position of less power, is considered adult clergy sexual abuse (ASCA). ACSA is illegal in 14 states, plus the District of Columbia, but not in Ohio.
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The police report states that an officer discovered the couple in a Land Rover the afternoon of Aug. 30—a Saturday—in a picnic area at the Clear Fork Reservoir near Mansfield.
Williams asserted his innocence to TRR and said people are too quick to find fault with churches.
“It’s being blown out of proportion,” he said. “I’m not a villain. . . . I know people jump on stuff like this because they always want to look for something that the church is wrong about.”
Without admitting fault, Williams added that he’s never said he was without “a flaw.”
“I never said I was better than anybody or higher and mightier than anybody,” he said. “I’ve never said I was holier than anybody.”
Williams questioned whether someone had a political motive to come after him.
“Is it because I ran for office last year or because somebody perceives me as a threat?” he told TRR. “I get along with people of both political parties. I’m not a renegade. I don’t go around tearing down signs in people’s yards. As a matter of fact . . . I was very cordial toward my opponent. We went out for lunch after the election.”
In 2024, Williams lost a race for Ohio’s Richland County commissioner as the Democratic candidate with 28% of the vote to Republican candidate Darrell Banks. Williams ran on the platform of bringing “equity and accountability” to the position.
Williams’ LinkedIn page states he’s a youth mentor for the Richland County Juvenile Court. His candidate bio said he also works for the Mansfield School District and serves on several boards.
A Gulf War veteran, Williams has been the pastor at the Maddox church since 2016, replacing his father, Aaron Williams, Sr. who led the church for the previous 37 years.
Arraignment is set for Sept. 9 for both Williams and the woman. Both are represented by Mansfield attorney Allen Werstiuk.
rebeca hopkins is a journalist based in Colorado.
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11 Responses
What a tragedy. Thank you for reporting this story in a way that recognizes the dynamics of ACSA and your ethical care to protect a potential victim. It’s beyond disturbing how quick he is to minimize what he has done.
Somehow I feel the coverage of this guy would be rather different if he were a conservative Republican.
Are you referring to the coverage on this site or in general? And in what way do you suppose it would be different?
Maybe I’m missing something, but I don’t see any issues with the coverage or how his political leanings have anything to do with it.
I mean all over the internet and media. For starters, it would be trumpeted from the rooftops everywhere, and the headline wouldn’t be “Ohio Pastor Charged with Public Indecency”, it would be “Failed Republican Christian Nationalist Pastor Busted For Indecency”.
Who cares? Both parties are rotten to the core. The man was caught in the act of committing adultery, a crime punishable by death in the law God set up for a country. But you appear to be more concerned with stupid politics then what God thinks. Jesus is the judge in the end, not any man from any party on this planet.
Thank you, Ralph. I was just talking with a friend over the weekend that we (both the nation AND, sadly, the church) need deliverance from the political idolatry that is showing itself as having different reactions to outright sin based on political affiliation. Arguments of “if a person whose politics I agree with did it, here are the justifications, deflections, whataboutisms, and downplaying of it” should have NO business among believers. When we respond to sin with “well, it depends on who did it” bias or “it’s only a big deal because my person/party did it” victimhood statements, we elevate party affiliation as if it provides grace (or condemnation) on the level of Christ. This is a BIG no.
The ONLY difference is that Christians (should) know better – we cannot expect non-believers to behave as if they know Christ. Can that come across as holding believers to a higher standard? Yes. But it should – as scripture is a higher standard than that of the world.
Ralph Jesperson,
It’s easy for the left to pearl-clutch now about adultery–but I remember ten straight years where Christian conservatives were mocked and ridiculed by all for being upset about Bill Clinton’s misdeeds.
Without the example set by Clinton, the right would never have embraced Trump.
Interesting perspective. Because I recall the right pearl-clutching about Clinton – complete with moral grandstanding speeches about “behavior beneath the office” and how the POTUS is to “set an example for our children” (while their leader, Newt Gingrich was committing adultery himself, but I digress) – but started singing “we’re looking for a President not a pastor” and “that’s a private matter” songs when it comes to Trump.
This is an example for why no one takes “Christian conservatives” seriously.
The thing I can never come to terms with is this: you were caught red-handed by the police. You know you are guilty but insist on pleading not guilty in hopes your lawyer can get the charges reduced or dismissed.
Does that not make the person a liar as well as an adulterer? Whatever happened to man up and deal with the consequences of your actions?
“One sins and then does worse by excusing it”
Thomas A Kempis
“Williams questioned whether someone had a political motive to come after him.
“Is it because I ran for office last year or because somebody perceives me as a threat?” he told TRR.”
What a weird comment to make! If simeone ACCUSED YOU of the sinful behaviour with another woman, then that might make sense. But this:
“ The police report states that an officer discovered the couple in a Land Rover the afternoon of Aug. 30—a Saturday—in a picnic area at the Clear Fork Reservoir near Mansfield.”
A police officer discovered them…it wasn’t a rumour or online false accusation, they were literally discovered by law enforcement!!! How can you try and claim innocence out of that – using the same old excuse that someone is out to get you! Shocking.