Wolves Among the Sheep > Child Evangelism Org Director Stung by FBI in Vermont

 

Director of Vermont child evangelism organization caught in FBI child sex sting

By Daniel Silliman RR

• August 13, 2026
• 4:44 pm CDT
• 11 Comments

Green Mountain Baptist Church in Center Rutland, Vermont, removed Andrew Buzzell from leadership and membership in a unanimous vote Saturday. Buzzell is charged with distributing child sexual abuse material. (Photo courtesy of Facebook)

Note: This story contains details about the sexual abuse of children.

The FBI arrested the Vermont state director of a child evangelism organization last week, after he allegedly told an undercover agent that he wanted to rape a 9-year-old girl.

Andrew Buzzell, 34, responded to an online post asking if “any pervs” were interested in “Taboo Young” children, according to FBI Special Agent John Krawczyk. When an undercover investigator asked the independent Baptist church elder, “What is (too) young?” Buzzell reportedly texted back, “There’s no such thing.”

He now faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

The church where Buzzell served removed him from leadership and membership in a unanimous vote Saturday.

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Andrew Buzzell teaches a Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) program in 2024 at Whiting Community Church in Whiting, Vermont. (Photo courtesy of Facebook)

“We desire complete justice,” Green Mountain Baptist Church, in Center Rutland, said in a statement posted online, “as well as comfort and healing for all impacted individuals.”

The church asked for prayers for Buzzell’s wife and urged anyone with information related to the allegations to contact the FBI.

Child Evangelism Fellowship of Vermont (CEF) told the Roys Report (RR) that it has “zero tolerance for such misconduct” and “the individual in question has been terminated.” The group currently runs three after-school evangelism programs in the state, with  to launch 29 more. 

‘Particularly alarming,’ given Buzzell’s role

Federal prosecutor Michelle M. Arra told a federal court on Tuesday that Buzzell’s role as a director of the child evangelism organization made the allegations against him “particularly alarming.”

“Buzzell’s work necessarily involves, and arguably is exclusively focused on, children and youth ministries,” Arra said. “Buzzell solicited photos of the supposed nine-year-old female and made various statements … discussing the specifics of a desired sexual encounter.”

Andrew Buzzell, became Vermont state director of Child Evangelism Fellowship in 2024, a year after he began volunteering with the organization. (Photo courtesy of Facebook)

The 34-year-old, who lives in West Rutland in a rural part of Vermont known for marble quarries, started volunteering for the state’s CEF in 2023, according to public tax records.

Buzzell had little previous experience teaching people to share a message of sin and salvation with children. According to his social media posts, he studied educational psychology and ministry at Pensacola Christian College, a fundamentalist Baptist school in Florida. But when he moved back to Vermont and got married in 2015, Buzzell went to work as a cabinet maker.

One year after he started at CEF, however, he was made state director. Fundraising revenue increased 127% in his first year, according to tax records, and Buzzell was given an annual salary of $43,500.

He also rose in leadership at his small Baptist church, an independent congregation whose ministers frequently quote Puritan theologians, including Jonathan Edwards and John Owen. Buzzell served as a deacon and then elder.

Secret life online

At the same time, according to federal prosecutors, Buzzell was going online under the usernames “kinkyvt1231” and “woodman1241” and sharing obscene images of children.

In December 2024, he allegedly shared three images and a one-minute video on the anonymous messaging app Kik. The video showed a girl between the ages of 6 and 10 being raped on a bed, according to the FBI.

The messaging app reported the suspected child sexual abuse material to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The report said the username was connected to an email that included Buzzell’s last name and first initial. Kik also shared the user’s internet protocol address, which designates the individual device that connected with the network.

In October 2025, Kik filed a second report with the child safety organization. Someone with the same internet address, but using a second account name, appeared to be sharing images that included “the lascivious exhibition of the anus, genitals, or pubic area” of a child.

Then in June 2026, someone calling themselves “Princesspantyboy” responded to an online ad for “Taboo Young” sex, according to the FBI investigation. The ad was part of a sting operation run by the Violent Crimes Against Children unit. An officer pretended to be a woman inviting men to rape her daughter for a fee.

“Princesspantyboy” said he was very interested. He identified himself in a text exchange as a 34-year-old male in New England and asked immediately to see pictures, Special Agent Krawczyk told the court.

‘How rough would I be allowed to be?’

When the undercover investigator said the child was only 9, “Princesspantyboy” texted back, “Such a perfect age,” according to the criminal complaint. The man allegedly added that “girls need to be trained” to be raped “as young as possible.”

He also texted, according to the FBI, that he had a 10-year-old niece that he wanted to “train.”

The undercover agent tried to get “Princesspantyboy” to agree to drive to Philadelphia to meet in person. The man was interested, according to Krawczyk, and he asked a bunch of questions about a potential sexual encounter.

“How rough would I be allowed to be?” he asked.

But then the man protested that the proposed meeting site was too far away, and he was too busy, according to the FBI.

Federal agents subpoenaed the user information and tracked the online activity back to an email, phone number, name and physical address. All the information from the three different online accounts connected to Buzzell, Krawczyk told the court. The agent said he believes all three usernames belonged to the director of the child evangelism organization.

Law enforcement officers arrested Buzzell at his home on a quiet residential street on Aug. 7. When they interviewed him, he allegedly confessed to sharing the obscene materials online and texting someone he thought was advertising child rape.

When law enforcement asked Buzzell about his niece, he allegedly said he was thinking about a 10-year-old that he knew through church. He was, according to the FBI, actively considering the possibility of raping her.

“This … was a real child,” the assistant U.S. attorney said on Tuesday. “The weight of the evidence against Buzzell is strong.”

The federal government has, so far, only filed a single charge: knowingly distributing material that contains “child pornography.” The crime carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison.

Buzzell was released on bond to await trial. He is required to stay at home, stay off the internet and avoid all unsupervised contact with children.

A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 31.

Wolves Among the Sheep > Az Supreme Court rules Mormon bishops don't have to report CSA confessions; Monstrous Baptist pastor from Florida

 

Arizona clergy who learn of child abuse in confessions aren’t required to report it, court rules

State supreme court rules in case of two bishops who were silent about three children abused by Mormon parents

Richard Luscombe

Mon 3 Aug 2026 14.53 BST

Clergy members in Arizona who learn of child abuse in the context of religious confession are not required to report it, the state’s supreme court has said in a ruling that protects what church leaders call the “seal of the confessional”.

The panel’s ruling ends a long-running case in which three children who were sexually abused by their parents sued the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), also known as the Mormon church, and two bishops who became aware of the crimes but remained silent.

The case has parallels in a short-lived 2025 law in Washington state that would have compelled clergy members there to report sexual abuse. That proposal was permanently withdrawn in October after legal action by the Catholic church.

In a statement, the LDS welcomed the unanimous ruling by the state supreme court on Thursday that exempts clergy members as “mandated reporters” if they learned of the abuse of minors in the confession booth or through other “confidential” methods.

“The abuse of a child or any person is a tragic betrayal of trust,” it said. “The abuse at the center of this case was reprehensible, and the church has always condemned it. The church is deeply concerned for these children and for all who have suffered abuse.

“The church devotes significant resources to preventing abuse, helping victims, and encouraging reporting through safeguarding efforts around the world. The church has always been willing to help the victims in this case and that continues to be true.

“Arizona law also recognizes the confidential nature of religious confession. [The] decision affirms that these religious protections are to be respected alongside society’s shared commitment to protect the vulnerable.”

The case centered on a 2020 lawsuit filed by the children of Paul and Leizza Adams, who reported being abused by the Cochise county couple over a number of years.

Court filings said Paul Adams, who took his own life in jail while awaiting trial, admitted his crimes to a bishop while in confession in 2011. And, court filings said, they were discussed at a formal disciplinary hearing led by a separate bishop the following year.

A 2022 investigation by the Associated Press, however, recounted how the church followed its own policy of keeping the information to itself. The second bishop called an internal church helpline for advice, the AP reported, but was advised not to call police or child welfare officials.

The abuse continued, and it was not until 2017 that Adams and his wife were arrested after a video they made of some of the abuse turned up in New Zealand. Adams died awaiting trial, and Leizza Adams received a 30-month sentence in 2018 after pleading no contest to two felony charges of child abuse.

The Arizona supreme court’s ruling overturned a state appeals court ruling for the children on the grounds that the confession and disciplinary hearing discussions might not have been truly confidential.

In the 23-page ruling, John Lopez, the supreme court vice-chief justice, said the US constitution’s first amendment – which addresses religious freedom – prevented courts and juries from assessing religious doctrine when considering a clergy member’s reasons for choosing not to report abuse.

“Our decision ‘does not mean that religious institutions enjoy a general immunity from secular laws’,” he wrote, citing a 2020 US supreme court ruling about the church’s right to determine matters of government, faith and doctrine “free of government interference”.

“If a court finds a religious institution submitted evidence procured through ‘fraud’ or ‘collusion’ for secular purposes, it will lose the religion clauses’ protection” in the constitution.

There was no evidence the LDS church had done so, Lopez wrote.

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HIV-positive pastor shocks community, charged with abuse of 14-year-old boy: 'Jesus don't like that'

By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter Thursday, August 06, 2026

Polk County Florida Sheriff Grady Judd details the charges against Timothy Chaneyfield, a pastor accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy, during a press conference on Aug. 4, 2026. | YouTube/Polk Sheriff

An HIV-positive Florida pastor is accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy he met on a dating app, after allegedly going online to target children. The case has left residents shocked and horrified.

Timothy Chaneyfield, 42, the pastor at St. James United American Free Will Baptist Church in Winter Haven, is facing several charges and was transferred to the Polk County Jail, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said during a press conference Tuesday. He is being held on a bond of over $350,000.

Chaneyfield faces the following charges: three counts of lewd battery of a minor, three counts of interfering with custody of a minor, one count of unlawful use of a two-way communication device, three counts of traveling to meet a minor, four counts of an HIV-infected person having sex without informing a partner, one count of possession of cannabis, and five counts of possession of drug paraphernalia.

Judd said investigators spoke with members of the St. James church, who were “shocked” and said, “they had absolutely no idea their pastor was like that.” The investigation revealed that Chaneyfield had gone online searching for children and met the 14-year-old boy through a dating app.

According to the Polk County Sheriff's Office (PCSO), the investigation began on July 28 after a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The tip came from Instagram, where Chaneyfield and the victim continued chatting after meeting on the dating app.

“And then Timothy Chaneyfield picked him up in front of his neighborhood on three different occasions,” Judd said. “And on those three different occasions, he wasn't preaching, but he was messing around.”

Investigators said Chaneyfield picked up the victim on three consecutive days at the entrance to his subdivision, drove him to his house in Winter Haven and sexually abused him.

The pastor allegedly told the victim during a phone call that he wanted to continue having sex with him. He also told the boy he had to travel to Baltimore; investigators later learned he was presiding over a funeral there.

Authorities also learned that Chaneyfield was a chaplain for Compassionate Care Hospice of Lakeland. A spokesperson for Amedisys Home Health Care, the hospice's parent company, told The Christian Post that the company is aware of the allegations and confirmed that Chaneyfield is no longer employed there.

“We will cooperate fully with law enforcement authorities and their investigation,” the Compassionate Care Hospice spokesperson said. “Our priority remains delivering compassionate, high-quality care and support to the patients and families we serve.”

CP attempted to contact St. James United American Free Will Baptist Church for comment, but the phone number was disconnected.

“I hope that all of [the victims] come forward because this is wrong,” Teresa Story, a Winter Haven resident, said in a statement to Nexstar’s WFLA. “The Lord is going to judge him at the end of the day, but the law’s got to judge him too.”

Learn more

A detective obtained a warrant for Chaneyfield’s arrest, and with help from the Orlando Police Department, authorities took him into custody when he returned to the Orlando airport on July 29.

“But that wasn't it. That wasn't all. Timothy is HIV-positive,” Judd said.

Judd said Chaneyfield did not disclose his HIV-positive status to the 14-year-old victim, nor to another man he had sex with who is now HIV positive, according to Judd. 

Judd said authorities gave the 14-year-old victim preventive HIV medication and hope it was administered in time to prevent infection.

“[Chaneyfield] groomed a child online, drove to the child's neighborhood, picked him up, took him to his home, had sex with him, and if that's not bad enough, never disclosed to the child that he's HIV-positive,” the sheriff said. “So, ‘I'm going to have unprotected sex with this child and infect him as well.’”

“Jesus don't like that. And he'll have to answer for that one day to a court much higher than ours,” he added.

The sheriff is concerned Chaneyfield may have abused other children, noting the pastor had worked with children at Crystal Lake Middle School in Lakeland.

Polk County Public Schools, where Chaneyfield worked from 2012 until 2024, did not immediately respond to CP’s request for comment. This article will be updated if a response is received.

In a statement to WTSP, a spokesperson for Polk County Public Schools said Chaneyfield started as a substitute teacher in 2012, then worked as a paraeducator from 2014 to 2016 and as a network manager from 2016 to 2024, before leaving the district.

"We are thankful that the Polk County Sheriff's Office arrested this individual to protect the community from any further harm," the school district said. "As always, we cooperate fully with law enforcement to protect students and staff."