A Southern Baptist pastor in Florida is facing 18 felony counts, after explicit photos were found on his phone, including ones of him repeatedly sexually abusing a toddler, police say.
Jonathan Elwing, 43, senior pastor of Palm View First Baptist Church in Palmetto, was arrested by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office on June 21, on four counts of possession of material depicting child sexual conduct. The same day, prior to being arrested, he resigned as pastor of his Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)-affiliated church.
Six days later, following a forensic review of Elwing’s cell phone and computers, authorities have added 14 charges. Elwing has been additionally charged with two counts of capital sexual battery of a child under 12 years old, six counts of production of child sex abuse material, and six counts of possession of child sex abuse material.
Police say Elwing was using a private photo vault app on his phone to hide at least 14 pictures of him sexually assaulting a 2-year-old, the Bradenton Herald reported.
Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells stated that 10 covert cameras had also been found at Elwing’s home and in his church office, Spectrum Bay News 9 informado.
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“There’s some concern that he may have been hiding those cameras inside the church,” said Wells. On weekdays during the school year, the church hosts Educational Harbor, an accredited K-12 Christian school.
The sheriff told media that a cryptocurrency company tipped off investigators that Elwing had purchased CSAM content on the dark web. Deputies obtained a warrant and searched Elwing’s home the next day.
“I can’t stress this enough: This is a monster,” said Wells. “This is a man who went to great lengths to hide his true identity. To use whatever resources he could to feed this deviant behavior that he has.”
Elwing had publicly spoken out against the SBC implementing sex abuse reforms, stating in a February 2023 correo on X that it would be “the end of the SBC.”
Also, as first reported by Líderes de la Iglesia, Elwing had been “involved (with) denominational politics” in the SBC, including an affiliation with Founders Ministries led by Florida Baptist pastor Tom Ascol.
Palm View FBC had been listado as among Founders Ministries’ “Gospel-preaching, Christ-exalting” churches, but was removed from that list last week reported Church Leaders.
El Informe Roys (TRR) reached out to Palm View FBC and to Founders Ministries but received no response.
Founders Ministries partners with the Red Bautista Conservadora, an advocacy group with which Elwing was also involved that is concerned about “liberal drift” within the SBC. Both groups have been dismissive of the need for abuse reform within Southern Baptist churches.
The sheriff’s office indicated in a statement that additional charges against Elwing “are forthcoming” and provided a webpage for any potential victims to provide further information.
Sheriff Wells said he “feels bad” for Elwing’s family and congregation. “He went into that church professing to be a man of God, but he’s really nothing more than a liar and sexual predator.”
Elwing is currently being held without bond at Manatee County Jail in West Bradenton. According to court records, an initial hearing in his case has been scheduled for July 3.
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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32 Respuestas
So we finally have the real reason why the Founders and the Conservative Baptist Network have been against and stonewalling attempts at abuse reform and the database. They need to protect their little fraternity of molesters and abusers.
I have concluded, and this article supports the conclusion, that the Conservative Baptist Network is an unholy sham (scam?). On the other hand, Sheriff Wells and others like him are the real deal in providing protection to those most needing it! And I, well, I still have a GREAT need to get that log out of my own eye.
David Till – truer words have not been spoken 😢
Churches are safe havens for perverts.
Not only are abusers found in churches as they are in any other place, but they are allowed to fester in the dark corners or even in broad daylight. It is a hard fact to acknowledge but true. They have access to the victims and a much greater chance of escaping justice for years or forever when they are caught, compared to any other environment.
This man DID NOT BELIEVE IN GOD and yet he was able to pass himself off as a man of God without believing in God, and I am sure he was functioning in this role because he knew the church makes it easy.
We need to up the background checking, surveillance and supervision. Most of all, if abusive behavior comes to light, automatic reporting to the authorities and full-on investigations. Zero toleration.
Until these perverts know they cannot hide in a church this will keep on happening.
Take seriously the qualifications for elders and pastors and do the due diligence. After addressing this problem we move on to true repentance, restoration and forgiveness – whether that be to a seat in the congregation, or from a prison cell.
I don’t think we get to “no true Scotsman” this. This man held ALL of the right credentials for the conservative set right up until he got caught abusing a child. Before that came out, he was the model student. He is one of “us.”
I think what we need to reckon with is that christianity, as practiced in most of white evangelical america, does not keep “us” from abusing children. or women. or men. We have a website’s worth of reporting showing that the gospel these men are teaching is not enough to transform. It has room for them to compartmentalize their secret deviencies and still stand up every Sunday and preach the word with conviction. we. are. doing. it. wrong.
It would be one thing if these were outliers, but this is what the white evangelical church in america is producing- in all corners and all denominations. when will we stop and truly examine ourselves? when will we be willing to tear down the the scaffolding we’ve built that creates and protects these kind of abusers? sadly, I think the answer is never- that there’s no amount of victims that will cause us to change our behavior. At some point, everyone who continues to participate in “church” is complicit- we are holding on to and propping up whatever cancer it is that is creating these men and allowing them to thrive.
Hear, hear!!! I have a friend who puts it this way “Step up or step off”, his point being if you’re just “along for the ride” you are, in effect, dead weight. Pull your weight by engaging, asking, expecting…….up close and personal if necessary, but don’t just sit there. His decades long career as a first responder is the source of his metaphor….in the first responder environment, no one is just “along for the ride”.
It seems to be racist to write that it’s only “white evangelicals” who are molesting and raping children. The Roys Report has exposed the perverted and violent behavior of people of every ethnicity. Color is not a determiner of evil.
I noticed the same thing. Articles at The Roys Report about sexually abusive, spiritually abusive, or dishonest pastors who are not white seem to occur roughly in proportion to population demographics.
While there are abusers in every race and denomination, I am a white evangelical and calling out the specific flavor of christianity I grew up in- rather than deflecting to any other race or sect/denomination.
additionally, while it’s true that abuse can happen in any race, it doesn’t take much scrolling to realize that most of the abusers here are, in fact, white men. I get that statistically there are more white evangelicals than other races evangelicals- but more people = more problem.
the white evangelical church in america needs a reckoning, regardless of what happenes in any other church anywhere. don’t deflect and dilute the point. we must clean our own house.
Jen, as much as I hate to say it, you’re right. Churchgoers across the country should analyze their leadership organization to see whether there is any real accountability, oversight, and transparency. We left a church after the bylaws were changed to create a closed-loop elder/pastor arrangement where everything that happened or could happen was controlled by a small group of (mostly white) men. Even entry into the elite circle of elders was controlled by the elders. Lack of oversight, transparency, and accountability is the abuser’s dream world. I can hear them now, “don’t you trust me?” No.
So many reasons the church can’t deal with bad leaders- Matthew 18, “God told me”, putting ministry over people (can’t get rid of him, it’ll hurt the church/ministry!). Narcissists and sociopaths in positions of authority. Yes men supporting them. It happens at every size church. We aren’t any better than the world, instead we are worse. We are so concerned about sin outside the church yet we don’t deal with sin in the church. Why would anyone who has no history with the church want to enter one?
This is as bad as it gets, Chabarim: the raping of a little, tiny Child (and the recording of it). This is demonic. Steeples (vulgar in appearance) and stages (platforms with steps) are also both forbidden in the Scriptures which make one wise unto Salvation, but many if not most places of gatherings are tolerating and erecting them, as well as the Shabbat having been changed to the first day of the week, which YHWH and His Son Yahshua are not honoring. Father and Son remain in Rest, weekly, with the 7th day of the week set apart as Q’Dosh, as commanded by our Creator and Father YHWH in Genesis Chapter 2. He does not change, though the false father of lies would have us believe that He has changed. The daughters of the whore are yet following the false father even in his festivals, instead of YHWH’s Seven Moedim, which His Son Yahshua full-filled and continues to do so. People who would lie about times and laws of our Creator would also lie about many other commandments in Scripture, we are finally realizing. We thank our haShamayim Father for His Authority, including the ordination of police and sheriff departments of our land. “If I AM the Father, where is My Honour?” YHWH asks in Malachi 1:6. We are to follow only Yahshua, Who honours His Father, always. He died for us, and He arose. He Alone is Worthy of our allegiance. May Children everywhere be protected, in His Name. May Yahshua return, soon, to rescue all who love Him and long for His appearing.
“Palm View FBC had been listed as among Founders Ministries’ “Gospel-preaching, Christ-exalting” churches, but was removed from that list last week …”
I shouldn’t laugh, but I did. I wonder how Founders Ministries would explain that Mr. Elwing was “Gospel-preaching” right up to the point of his arrest. It’s not as if whatever he was preaching in the past has now changed. It was either “Gospel-preaching” or not, irrespective of his crimes.
I have said in other threads and will continue to say that nothing changes until the individual takes a stand. All the talk about qualifications, background checks, supervision, repentance, restoration, forgiveness is meaningless since there are as many definitions of those ideas as there are people in the conversation. Definitions of those words, if defined at all, are typically driven by whether the definition allows the one doing the defining to remain in the desired relationship with whoever else is in the conversation. In several cases in past decades, I have made my own call about the meaning and import of those words. Finding the organization unwilling to discuss these issues and/or or to address them, I took my leave. Costly? Yes. Difficult? Yes. But somebody will always own me. If I do not choose me, I will have defaulted to allowing someone else to own me. All the chatter about what congregations should do or quoting endless scripture is a way of saying we wish someone would do what we see should be done but we perceive the cost of doing it ourselves is too high. The price I pay for not stepping up individually is allowing myself to be owned by the need to belong or be accepted by the group. No thank you. I’ll choose to own myself even if that means walking out the door if my questions are not answered. When I’ve encountered resistance to questions the reason for the resistance is always based on power and the perceived right of “spiritual leaders” to not answer. Upon encountering that, I’m gone. More than once my strategy has been personally endorsed afterward by folks who wouldn’t do the same but later wished they had.
Oh Lord have mercy on these poor kids. The hell that awaits us if we sexually violate children while hiding behind a Bible!
I found this on the church’s belief statement (under the scriptures)
“This statement of faith does not exhaust the extent of our beliefs. The Bible itself, as the inspired and infallible Word of God that speaks with final authority concerning truth, morality, and the proper conduct of mankind, is the sole and final source of all that we believe. For purposes of Palm View First Baptist’s faith, doctrine, practice, policy, and discipline, the Pastor(s) of Palm View First Baptist Church will be the final interpretive authority on the Bible’s meaning and application.”
YIKES
Talk about indoctrination and abuse. I pray God will open the eyes and minds of His people to see through these controlling and dominating individuals so that they may have a personal relationship with Him. When humans are the authority, failure and abuse aren’t far behind.
That should have been a huge red flag.
Jesus did not call such as “The Founders” and their Apostle Paul bashing legalistic nonsense “A Brood of Vipers” for nothing. This show their true nature. They set themselves up as High Priests that tell others what to do and what to think. This is all to Lord their authority over them, by leveraging God in the most Unholy way possible. These are truly white-washed Septic tanks in every way.
“For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” 1 Peter 4:17
How will those that simply do not obey Jesus command not to Lord authority over others avoid hell when they die? They will not as long as they keep practicing their sacrilege.
You’re spot-on again, Ralph.
Walking in outright disobedience and rebellion is NOT belief. Belief (in NT Greek) implies trust that what is written is true and to follow what is written even – and especially – when following traditions seem to “make sense”.
All of these men (and women) exercising authority in assemblies are by definition unbelievers.
This is what is written:
“Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.
*But it shall not be so among you*
But whoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your *servant*
even as the son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25-28)
…neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:3).
So Florida has recently passed legislation where child predators may receive the death penalty… we will soon see a Baptist minister die via lethal injection.
I am one who supports MANDATORY death penalty for those who molest children. And as a preacher myself we are called to a higher light (Luke 12:41-47; James 3:1)!! I believe a preacher who molests children will have a hotter spot in Hell than a bartender, an atheist, a policeman, ,etc. And receive the death penalty for it fast!
This man’s evil behavoir is an example of the bad fruit of the false teaching of male authority over women in the church and the abuse it can lead to. Patriarchy was never God’s intention.
Telling women that they are not hearing from God when they hear a call on their life to preach/pastor has gotten so bad as being compared to being an accomplice to murder.
Yes! you heard that right!
A very prominent southern baptist woman who teaches other women how to be godly, silent submit and never preach or pastor has compared any woman who takes seminary classes meant for pastors/preachers, even if they never preach/pastor to someone who learns how to do abortions even if they never do them !!!!!!!!!!! so a woman who wants to learn more about God and service to Him is the same as an abortionist?!?!?!
And then she says any seminary that allows women to take those classes is sinning. I heard it on a YT video about women attending seminary. Outrageous behavior for someone who claims to love God and follow Jesus.
Susan, with all due respect, the fact that there are bad men in the Pulpit doesn’t change the clear teachings of Scripture concerning the roles of Men and Women in the home and the Church. God is clear about that as recorded in 1 Timothy 2:11-14; 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Peter 5:1-4. The Pastoral Ministry in th3 Church is limited to Men.
Respetuosamente,
Wayne
Mr. Cooper,
If you zoom out of those chapters especially 1 Tim 2, you would see that Paul addresses several behavioral problems and issues from letters he received from the church.
Paul’s other admonitions include: women should not wear fancy ostentatious outfits, earrings and braided hair. Must cover hair with veil. Must dress decently. Men most lift up holy hands. And a host of other admonitions in Paul’s epistles that the church turns blind eyes to.
Question to ponder:
Why focus on just excluding women as pastors, leaders? Why don’t we ban all women from ever speaking in church, not singing, not chit chatting; just complete silence. Also, no dressing fancy, wearing braids, gold earrings. Women should just wear long skirts, no jewelry, cover hair, no make up etc……………Just cover up from head to toe….like our Muslim ladies in their Hijab get up.
Let’s just rewind time to the times of Handmaiden tales…………….. OR SMH.
Wayne:
When one says “clear” teachings. It usually means the scriptures line up with their view and when the scriptures do not line up with their view they would say the scriptures can not be taken literally. I’ve always found this approach quite “interesting.”
Not a transvestite or drag queen? I dont know about Florida, but here in Texas many similar churches raise a cry about “CSA” when men dress as women and publicly read books to children. Yet here is one of those church leaders who, as that law enforcement official said, “went to great lengths to hide his true identity.” And that’s why transvestites and drag queens are safer than these predator pastors: Because even though they are men wearing dresses and makeup, it is not to hide their true identities. When in character as transvestites or drag queens, that IS who they truly are. Christians who fight against the “coming out” of LGBTQ people are missing an essential lesson about what true confession and real repentance looks like.
Oh that people could acknowledge the wisdom of your words. Regardless of how one feels about the eternal destiny of drag queens, we would do well to recognize they aren’t pretending to be something they’re not. Judgmental fixation on the sexuality of those outside the church is madness in light of the “whitewashed tombs” that are cracking open nearly on the daily all around us. I wonder when the stench of our own filth will finally be too much to bear. Christ have mercy.
“But whoso shall cause one of these little ones who believe in Me to fall, it were better for him that a millstone were hung about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” Matthew 18:6
The death penalty is certainly warranted. Prevention is a far better choice though. Pastors, teachers (and all other men) have no need of being alone with women or children. If it would help anyone’s feelings, I’ll admit that 99.9% of our leaders are immune to the particular sin/crime that this man did. However, 90% PLUS are susceptible to the temptation to pursue a sinful behavior with an older female. We MUST do something different to protect the innocent, and to restore the respect of the ministry.
“Police say Elwing was using a private photo vault app on his phone to hide at least 14 pictures of him sexually assaulting a 2-year-old, the Bradenton Herald reported.”
He RECORDED himself Doing the Deed and had it on his phone and on his person, only one touch of a touch-screen away?????
In this respect, smartphone cameras and screens are the prosecutor’s best friend. What this one criminal defense lawyer who does reaction videos on YouTube calls “Self-Snitching”.
Abusing a toddler? My first concerns are for his youngest daughter as may have done something similar to her or perhaps the victim is his youngest daughter herself.