A volunteer who worked last summer with youth at Houston-based Second Baptist Church has been charged with possessing child sexual abuse material. The arrest marks another controversy to hit the embattled megachurch, which has been accused of stealing members’ voting rights.

Carter Thomas, 27, was arrested Wednesday for the felony, Harris County police announced on Facebook. He was first charged on Nov. 26, but police picked him up on the way to turning himself in a week later on Wednesday, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Police were first tipped off about Thomas by email in August, according to the probable cause records. The individual who tipped off police said that Thomas had admitted to struggling with viewing the materials online.

Police began an investigation into Thomas and seized his electronic devices. They found 23 nude images of children under 17 on his phone and iPad, according to court records. Thomas’s web history also showed him searching for similar images.

Additionally, his father told police that Thomas had admitted to him that Thomas struggled with looking at “that kind of material.”

Thomas was booked into jail but posted a $15,000 bond later that same day, according to court records.

Church contests Thomas’s role there

In August, Thomas worked as a “volunteer youth minister” at Second Baptist, according to court records. He was responsible for escorting children and supervising youth activities.

Thomas’s defense attorney, though, replied to the Chronicle that Thomas was not working at the church in any capacity at the time police began their investigation.

Additionally, a spokesperson for Second Baptist told the news outlet that the title of “volunteer youth pastor” does not exist at the church.

“When we became aware of this situation, the authorities were contacted immediately, and we continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement,” a statement from the church said.  ” We have zero tolerance for child abuse or neglect of any kind.

The statement noted that church staff and volunteers who serve in the children and youth ministries are required to pass a background check every two years.

The Roys Report (TRR) reached out to Second Baptist for further details about Thomas’s involvement at the church but did not hear back prior to publication.

Church accused of mass deception

Second Baptist made headlines earlier this year when a lawsuit alleged that its leaders deceptively stripped members of their voting rights and transferred “nearly dictatorial authority” to the senior pastor, TRR previously reported.

Second Baptist boasts 94,000 members across six campuses and $1 billion in assets.

Jeremiah Counsel, a nonprofit founded by current and former members of the church, filed the suit and claimed that members’ voting rights were removed during a 2023 meeting purported to be about amending the bylaws.

Instead, the church allegedly removed members’ voting rights deceptively at a meeting that only 200 members from the church attended.

The church’s lead pastor, Ben Young, later contended that these allegations are “simply are not true.” 

Liz Lykins is a correspondent covering religion news for The Roys Report, WORLD Magazine, and other publications.