A Virginia megachurch pastor appeared on stage Sunday after reports that his arrest during a prostitution sting nearly two years ago will be expunged.
John D. Blanchard, pastor of Rock Church International in Virginia Beach, 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.
The Chesterfield County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office dropped the charges and agreed to expunge them about a year after Blanchard’s arrest. (Certain court records pertaining to Blanchard’s case can be viewed online.) But after uproar over that decision, the office appointed a special prosecutor in January this year to consider refiling charges.
That special prosecutor declared the evidence against Blanchard was “sound,” the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot reported in June. But no new charges were filed because Blanchard had reportedly complied with an unwritten plea agreement — going to “specialized counseling” in exchange for having charges dropped. (The prosecutor’s office described it as “sex offender related counseling” in an email released publicly earlier this year.)
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Last week, Chesterfield County Circuit Judge Steven Novey stated he “didn’t have any other choice under the law” but to expunge the charges, local TV station WVEC reported.
The Roys Report (TRR) sought comment from Blanchard’s attorney, Noel Brooks, but he did not respond.
Virginia law allows someone who was charged, but not convicted, to ask to have records of the arrest and charges sealed from public view. While expunged records are not destroyed, they do not appear in background checks run by employers or law enforcement.
Nearly all the other men charged in connection with the prostitution sting were fully prosecuted, the Virginian-Pilot reported. Attorney Tim Anderson, a former state delegate who has criticized officials’ handling of Blanchard’s prosecution, claimed none of the other defendants were offered the kind of deal Blanchard got, the newspaper previously reported.
For his part, Blanchard has not only fought the criminal charges, but also attempted to stifle criticism through civil and criminal courts.
He previously sued a woman who told police that Blanchard sexually assaulted her, but the case was reportedly dismissed. He also reportedly threatened to sue Anderson. In addition, Blanchard tried to press charges against a protestor who had demonstrated on the sidewalk outside Rock Church, but the case was reportedly dismissed.
On Sunday, four days after the judge’s ruling on expungment, Blanchard reappeared on stage at Rock Church International to offer a prayer after his wife, Robin Blanchard, preached. The couple are co-senior pastors at the church, where Robin Blanchard’s mother and Rock Church co-founder, Anne Gimenez, is also in leadership.
Rock Church did not respond when TRR asked whether Blanchard had resumed his full duties at the church. A statement the church posted in 2021 indicated Blanchard had stepped back as lead pastor and would refrain from ministerial duties “until this present situation is totally resolved.”
Blanchard had stepped away and returned to ministry multiple times, but the church has not updated its statement. A review of the church’s livestreams shows he had not been the featured speaker in recent months.
This article has been updated to include links to relevant court records.
Sarah Einselen is an award-winning writer and editor based in Texas.
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9 Responses
I wonder how many people in his flock know of this?
Im sorry to say it comes as no surprise anymore all these endless sick stories. The bigger story here is the church itself because regardless the plea deal gets him off criminal consequences it doesnt reveal him as innocent . . 1 Tim 3 and Paul’s instructions to Titus just for a start off exclude any possibility that he remains eligible to be a deacon or elder and since the report suggests no one can point to any evidence the charges were false but rather swept aside in a deal.. THE CHURCH MEMBERS now have the greatest responsibility to insist he sit at the back in repentance or else they ought to leave. Rom1v32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them….. do you get that “even those who approve” regardless they didnt do the sin. We are his witnesses but if the church insists on acting as if nothing happened that witness is worse than silence. How will the unsaved see Jesus if his witnesses only reflect this fallen world…. Lord have mercy and do something about it yourself!
What I find disturbing and sad is how churches like Rock Church in Virginia Beach are okay with their pastor being arrested for sexual charges, and then coming back as if nothing happened. This is beginning to feel like an epidemic after seeing similar headlines over and over.
It may be that many church people have a false theology of “grace” that absolves one of the need to keep the moral law. Others may think that these types can be rehabilitated. They cannot be. Please watch the film “Happy Shiny People” concerning the Duggar family and other material from victims of church related sexual abuse.
The DA cut the pastor a sweetheart deal and never told anyone outside of her office. She made a fool of everyone including the “special prosecutor” who was appointed to silence her critics. She knew all along the case was resolved with barely a slap on the wrist and could not be adjudicated. It’s a blatant example of the double standard of justice that seems to have become the norm. It’s also become a shocking norm to see abusive pastors use the courts to silence their victims and critics.
“The prosecutor’s office described it as “sex offender related counseling” in an email released publicly earlier this year.)”
In my opinion as a counsellor of over 40 years experience the only appropriate “sex offender counseling” is called ” jail”.
As evangelicals, we love to platform these guys regardless of what they have done. As others have said, a plea deal is not the same as innocence. Far from it! Where are the elders in all of this?
Unbelievable…
Not that he’s been reinstated — that was to be expected…
That is what’s unbelievable — that it was expected to happen.
For too long there is more interest in restoring fallen shepherds, rather than a desire or actions to heal the damaged and wounded sheep and lambs.