A youth pastor in South Carolina who moonlighted as a videographer is facing dozens of charges of voyeurism and sexual exploitation, after he was hired for church weddings and secretly filmed women and minors undressing.
On Tuesday, Greenville County Sheriff’s Office released new details of charges against Daniel Kellan Mayfield, 35, who was employed as youth pastor and technology director at First Baptist Church (FBC) Gowensville near Greenville. According to Noticias de Greenville, authorities brought 24 new charges against Mayfield, including 18 for voyeurism and six first-degree counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.
In total, across two S.C. counties, the former youth pastor faces 70 criminal charges. Mayfield was arrested on June 1 at his home in Boiling Springs and transported to Greenville County where he was charged. Mayfield is being held at Greenville County Detention Center, with no bond amount listed.
The latest charges are related primarily to two weddings that occurred in 2019 and 2021, where Mayfield was hired as videographer. The police warrant states that he set up cameras in areas of the church where the bridal party would have “reasonable expectation of privacy,” used for getting dressed and preparation. In a May 27 meeting at Greenville County Sheriff’s Office, Mayfield confessed to possessing and storing the videos on his MacBook Pro.
Another warrant references a third wedding, where Mayfield was acting as “representative and keyholder” of FBC Gowensville. While serving in that church host role, he also surreptitiously filmed a bridal party in states of undress with hidden cameras. Other charges reference Mayfield serving in his “official capacity” as student minister and filming multiple girls, some as young as 14, in church bathrooms.
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The investigation into Mayfield for criminal sexual conduct began with an incident on May 27, when a woman reported him for voyeurism.
The woman was showering at a residence in Greenwood and noticed a light outside her bathroom window. She and her sister discovered Mayfield alone in the backyard, and he admitted to filming the woman. In the video, Mayfield exclaimed, “Oh, sh–,” when caught in the act of recording, informes state.
According to a statement from First Baptist Church Gowensville Senior Pastor Josh Phillips, Mayfield has been employed since 2016 as student minister and managed “anything related to technology, including website and app duties” at the Landrum church. The South Carolina Baptist Convention liza FBC Gowensville as a member.
“This was a complete and total shock to everyone who knew him, from parents to volunteers to students to family and close friends,” Phillips told Noticias de Greenville. “Unfortunately, these things usually are surprises. It is the people you do not expect.”
A statement on the church’s website does not name Mayfield but notes church leaders were “made aware of an incident of moral misconduct perpetrated by one of our staff members” on May 27. It states that, “Proper authorities were notified immediately and the employee was terminated from his role.”
“We remain dedicated to providing a safe worship environment and will be ever vigilant in protecting all persons involved in any of our events,” added the church statement.
Periodista independiente Josh Shepherd escribe sobre fe, cultura y políticas públicas para varios medios outlets. He and his family live in the Washington, D.C. area.
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I’m glad he was caught and turned in to authorities. A lot of churches would sweep it under the rug and pretend it never happened.
But this church could have done better by naming him and the charges against him. Why the secrets that only help to spread rumors and gossip? Lay it out for people. No secrets. The charges are public information. People like this deserve to be embarrassed but even more, others need to know behavior like this won’t be swept under a rug and their identities won’t be hidden from the community.
I have been a clergyman for over 50 years. I cannot believe the number of clergy and lay leaders that have been caught in some form of immorality. Are churches not vetting the candidates they have for clergy and lay leader positions? Are clergy and lay leaders not being taught in seminary or grad school that holiness of life is an absolute necessity in church ministry?
George, it is a much deeper issue. It’s a DNA issue. Charisma wins over character every day, soft skills are easier to teach. The hard skills, character, integrity, Christ-like behaviors take time to develop.
Big church moves fast, needs to be agile and doesn’t have the time to invest in such things.
Sadly, this is a hard truth!
The problem is “Christians” have become a stone of stumbling to non believers instead of living the truth 1st Peter 2:9
1st Peter 2:4-9
4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture:
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,
“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”[a]
8 and
“A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.”
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
this will never change until we realize that guys like these are the rule, not the exception. white evangelical christianity continues to produce men who use their power for selfish gain, believing they can get away with it because they always have. until we look at what we’re doing to consistently produce this, and stop thinking about these guys as “a few bad apples”, the system will continue to churn out abusers (and we’ll continue to have people SHOCKED! in the comments that it has happened again!).
When the tree produces bad fruit, you cut it down.
When white american evangelical churches produce bad fruit, we fret about it, quote scripture, and change exactly nothing.