Sex crime charges could be refiled against a megachurch pastor caught up in a prostitution sting last year, a Virginia prosecutor said today.
Chesterfield County Commonwealth’s Attorney Stacey Davenport announced this morning that she plans to get a special prosecutor to determine whether charges should be refiled against John D. Blanchard, pastor of Rock Church International in Virginia Beach.
Davenport said her decision to ask the court to appoint a special prosecutor came because of “new information related to the case against John Blanchard that was provided to my office less than 48 hours ago.”
Blanchard was arrested in October 2021 during a sting in which an officer posed online as a teenage girl offering sex at a motel. Authorities alleged Blanchard and 16 other men had been “soliciting sex from minors.” Blanchard has denied accusations against him.
But Davenport’s office dropped Blanchard’s charges a year after the sting, citing a “lack of evidence,” and recently agreed to have the arrest expunged. Other officials blasted those decisions, as detailed earlier this month in The Roys Report (TRR).
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She wouldn’t elaborate on what new information her office had gotten because she said it could become a pending criminal case again.
TRR reached out to Rock Church for comment on Davenport’s announcement, but did not immediately hear back.
Davenport also claimed she couldn’t ethically choose whether to refile charges herself because of “unfounded political attacks” from the local police chief and a state legislator.
Chesterfield County Police Chief Jeffrey S. Katz has said Davenport’s office never explained to him what was lacking in the investigation. Today, he thanked Davenport.
“I have privately—and then publicly—requested reasonable answers to reasonable questions,” Katz wrote on social media. Now, he wrote, those questions “actually stand a chance of getting answered.”
“If Ms. Davenport chooses to frame those questions as a political attack, so be it,” Katz added. “The wheels of justice are back in motion.”
Sarah Einselen is an award-winning writer and editor based in Texas.
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1 thought on “Prosecutor: Virginia Pastor Caught Up in Prostitution Sting Could Be Charged Again”
May God bring His “Severe mercy” on all those protecting pedophiles and wolves in sheep’s clothing, knowing that God is no respecter of anyones title or position, whether it is the mega-wolf church pastor and his tribe, or this prosecutor making an exception for the mega-wolf and even wanting to clear/expunge his record – in record time no less. And may God’s Severe mercy expose the whole truth, even as many will continue to follow this mega-wolf and support him and see him as a victim, when in reality, he was ready to victimize an underage girl… As it also brings blessings on all those willing to speak up and challenge the ruling and the prosector trying to play the part of the victim, which just happens to be the same kind of posturing as the mega-wolf…