While a Seattle-area mayor supported a pastor who’s a convicted sex offender, a network of civic leaders looked the other way and even lauded the offender, according to an investigation by 97.3 FM KIRO News Radio.
The same day that Joshua Headley admitted in court to raping a 15-year-old girl while pastoring Auburn’s Northwest Family Church, Auburn Mayor Nancy Backus sent a letter of support for Headley’s character.
And after Headley was sentenced and served time for his crime, the Auburn Area Chamber of Commerce nominated him for an award for the work he did with a newly created media company.
LaShund Lambert, pastor of Resurrection Church in Auburn, who has followed Headley’s case for years, was aghast at how the city gave Headley a pass.
“I was blown away that they felt there was so little accountability that they could go on as if it never happened,” Lambert said. “I have a lot of friends, but no rapist friends.”
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Headley actively involved in city events, despite criminal investigation
Headley’s crime was reported to Auburn police in 2018, according to a police report. Then 27 years old, he groomed and repeatedly sexually assaulted a girl he mentored.
In the report, the victim recalls how she knew the assaults were wrong but said nothing because Headley was her pastor. The report also shares texts from Headley where he describes some of the acts he committed against the victim.
While police investigated, Headley switched to Revive Church in Auburn in 2019. And according to KIRO, he also applied to be a chaplain at the police department that was investigating him.
In January 2020, Headley was formally charged with rape of a child in the third degree, according to court records. However, it would be two years before the case would go to trial.
Meanwhile, he filmed the Miss Auburn and Miss Auburn Teen pageants for the Auburn Examiner, a local paper, that same month. In February 2020, he helped cover the Auburn Ravens youth football cheer team for the paper.
Later that same year, the Auburn Area Chamber of Commerce presented REVIVE Church with a “Nonprofit of the Year” award, according to KIRO. Then in 2021, Headley led the prayer for the City of Auburn’s Pride Flag raising.
In May 2022, Pastor Lambert contacted Mayor Backus and explained why many ministries in Auburn refused to participate in city events that Headley attended. “I told her, ‘I’ve read the police report. It is horrible. It is sickening,’” Lambert recalled to KIRO.
Backus reportedly told Lambert the city would stop affiliating with Headley and that the mayor had no knowledge of Headley’s charges.
Mayor asks for no jail time for Headley
But a month later, Backus sent a letter of support on behalf of Headley on the same day the pastor entered a guilty plea in court.
In a draft of that letter, obtained by the radio station, which Backus said was “similar to the letter, but not identical,” she praised Headley extensively.
“I have known Joshua Headley for the past six plus years in his role as a pastor and community partner,” Backus wrote. “Josh has always enthusiastically looked for ways to help his community and make it a better place.”
Backus then made a plea on behalf of Headley.
“While I realize that Josh has pled guilty to the charges that were filed against him, I am asking the court for treatment for Josh vs. jail/prison time,” she wrote in the draft. “I truly believe that our community would be best served by the treatment option. I do not take my comments and request lightly, as I am responsible for the safety of our city.”
Headley received a 13-month sentence and was ordered to register as a sex offender, according to court records. He only served six of these months in jail.
Headley rebrands and gets praised by the city
Once released, Headley rebranded himself professionally as “J. Seeley” and formed the business Seeley Media, according to KIRO. (The company’s website has since been removed from the internet.)
Seely Media soon received payments from more than a dozen political campaigns and committees, according to public disclosure commission filings. At least 20 candidates and campaign committees have hired Headley between 2023 and 2025.
Seeley has received payments as recently as this August, when a candidate for the city council paid him.
His work brought him into proximity with children as he was hired to record videos for the “Yes 4 Yelm Schools” levy campaign, KIRO said. The videos included shots of teenage students, despite his sentence prohibiting him from unsupervised contact with minors.
In May 2024, Seeley Media was a nominee and sponsor at the Auburn Area Chamber of Commerce’s Spotlight Awards.
KIRO reporter Charlie Harger wrote, “The idea that the Chamber’s leadership was unaware that ‘J. Seeley’ was actually Joshua Headley strains credibility. This was the same organization that had awarded him ‘Nonprofit of the Year’ while he awaited trial. The same civic network. The same small city.”
KIRO asked Kacie Bray, the Auburn’s Chamber of Commerce CEO, about what vetting process exists for sponsors and nominees. Bray merely said that the Chamber was not aware of Headley’s criminal investigation when they awarded his church “Nonprofit of the Year” in November 2020. However, KIRO noted that Marissa (Mars) Flannery, Joshua Headley’s wife, serves on the chamber’s board of directors.
Lambert had a different perspective of the situation.
“We’re not dealing with someone that cusses every now and then,” Lambert told KIRO. “We’re dealing with a child rapist. For our city not to say, ‘absolutely not, this will not be tolerated here’. . . Apparently, it’s inclusive if you are productive in a way that I want.”
The idea of restorative justice
In June 2025, Backus defended her previous support of Headley at a meeting of the 30th District Democrats. According to audio obtained by KIRO, she said she was “a firm believer in restorative justice.” (She later repeated this claim to the radio station.)
According to state documents, restorative justice in Washington requires offenders to go through formal programs that focus on victim-centered accountability and healing.
The King County prosecuting attorney’s office told KIRO that no programs had been used in Headley’s case. “No justice on this one — that doesn’t typically happen on sex assault cases,” spokesperson Casey McNerthney said.
Backus did note that she would not write the same letter of support for Headley today because of her “present awareness of the facts of the case.”
She added that she has not had contact with Headley since his release.
In September, citizens held a prayer rally in front of the city hall in response to frustrations over Headley. A Facebook page for the event described it as a “gathering seeking honesty, accountability, and healing for our community, especially for those harmed by individuals who have been protected by people in positions of power in Auburn.”
Backus reframed the purpose of the rally in her blog. She thanked residents for sharing “ideas and strategies on how best to tackle crime in Auburn and in the region.”
It’s unclear if Headley still works as a pastor at Revive Church, or even if the church still exists.
Liz Lykins is a correspondent covering religion news for The Roys Report, WORLD Magazine, and other publications.
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6 Responses
How can anyone claim to be a leader, minister or even a Christian and commit sexual crimes while abusing minors and those that trust them?? They then lead prayers in public settings, preach from the pulpit and confront others about their sinful behavior while knowing who and what they really are? To think that the mayor asked for the lightest possible sentence is appalling at best.
My husband and I recently visited the area of Auburn, which was our home and location of our place of worship for several years. Moved away in 2003 and was shocked at the decline of Auburn physically and the amount of crime and homelessness abounded! The internal corruption is reflected on the external appearance of the city itself. Prayers for victim!
In 2017, Bill O’Reilly was kicked off of FOX NEWS, for similiar reasons. Now… 8yrs later FOX supports this by promoting leaders and believing they deserve a Nobel… and 37% of voters have supported this the last 3 general elections. This behavior is now mainstream because of our lack of critical thinking skills, only to get worse….
Gregory, the world is full of shameless sickos and their enablers in the halls of power. And some of these bad actors are even King County Democrats who check all the correct ideological boxes. I’m guessing this is difficult to accept.
💔 Another heartbreaking reminder of how deep this darkness runs — and how often those in power protect the abuser instead of the victims. When leadership defends the indefensible, it sends a message that survivors’ pain still doesn’t matter.
It’s time to stop centering the abuser and start honoring the victims — those whose innocence was stolen, whose trust was shattered, and whose stories deserve to be told with dignity and compassion.
Two victims often emerge from one act of abuse: the child whose body is violated and the loved ones whose hearts are broken in the aftermath. Both are left carrying a weight that no one should ever bear.
Justice must prevail — not only in the courtroom but in our communities, our institutions, and the public narrative. The media has a responsibility to shift its lens away from sensationalizing crimes and toward amplifying the humanity and resilience of survivors.
Let us focus our voices and attention where they belong — on those who endured the pain, those who are still healing, and the reforms needed to protect others from the same harm. Together, we can break the cycle of silence and bring Together, we can break the cycle of silence and bring light to the truth that has been hidden for far too long. ✊💔
Thank you for reporting on this – there is so much hidden corruption, lack of wisdom and discernment in the Church and our communities it is hard to grasp, but it is evidence of the last days that we are living. Reporting and exposing these situations brings a measure of accountability at least in some cases. It is hard to understand leaders thinking it is okay to overlook the sin (crime) of anyone just because he has done “good work” in the community. The good work doesn’t remove the abuse or change or overlook who that person is. He may have done good work, but he also committed a crime.