So far in the 21st century nearly a third of a billion children have been sexually abused, most of them multiple times, some thousands of times. 6 out of 7 are girls. Anything you can do to get this message to as many people as possible will help save abused children all over the world, and maybe even some of the abusers. Please read "Save A Child from Sexual Abuse by 3:15 PM" under "First Time Visitor?" May God bless you and anoint this ministry.
Everyday thousands of children are being sexually abused. You can stop the abuse of at least one child by simply praying. You can possibly stop the abuse of thousands of children by forwarding the link in First Time Visitor? by email, Twitter or Facebook to every Christian you know. Save a child or lots of children!!!! Do Something, please!
3:15 PM prayer in brief:
Pray for God to stop 1 child from being molested today.
Pray for God to stop 1 child molestation happening now.
Pray for God to rescue 1 child from sexual slavery.
Pray for God to save 1 girl from genital circumcision.
Pray for God to stop 1 girl from becoming a child-bride.
If you have the faith pray for 100 children rather than one.
David A. Ritchie, a religion instructor and the prominent lead pastor of Redeemer Christian Church in Amarillo, Texas, has been fired following his arrest over the weekend in a prostitution sting.
Redeemer Christian Church did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Christian Post on Wednesday, but it confirmed Ritchie’s firing in a statement to ABC 7.
"[Ritchie] was immediately placed on leave, and our elders met Monday night to officially terminate his employment," Andrew Merker, a church spokesperson, told the news outlet on behalf of the elders. "We are shocked and heartbroken by this news, and we are committed to exercising appropriate accountability."
Ritchie, 42, who has been charged with solicitation of prostitution, was one of eight men arrested in the undercover sting conducted by the local Department of Public Safety on Friday and Saturday, ABC 7.
David Ritchie is the former lead pastor of Redeemer Christian Church in Amarillo, Texas. | YouTube/Cantus Firmus
The other men arrested for similar charges and other crimes are John Alexander Grado-Vega, 26, of El Paso; Braiden Deion Sellers, 34, of Pascagoula, Mississippi; William Theodore Bradley, 47, of Amarillo; Jorge Luis Lopez-Najera, 24, of Amarillo; Jerry Mac Rottenberry, 53, of Amarillo; Kody Ray Dick, 37, of Amarillo; and Travis Jordan Brooks, 35, of Clermont, Florida.
Ritchie’s profile has already been scrubbed from the church’s website. An archived page from his own website describes him as a married father of three boys who holds degrees from Amarillo College, West Texas A&M University and Reformed Theological Seminary. He is also listed as a part-time instructor of religion at West Texas A&M.
A university spokesperson told the Amarillo Tribune that he is not employed by the university.
In a post on Facebook on Wednesday, Madison Jonas, who says he has known Ritchie for nearly 20 years, said that while he doesn’t condone what Ritchie did, why so many men are soliciting prostitutes needs to be examined.
Here's a clue to start your research > So many men, even pastors, have not surrendered themselves completely to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Even our sex lives need to be surrendered to His will, and our will must be surrendered. That's a cross you must carry daily if you are going to be ready to face the Lord on that Great and Terrible Day.
Days after an explicit pornographic video appeared on his X account, Hillsong Church founder Brian Houston assured supporters that he doesn't watch pornography and alleged that someone with access to one of his devices compromised the account.
“I wanted to take a moment to speak to people personally and address a vile post that appeared on my X account a few days ago. A good starting point is to say, I do not watch pornography, not online, not on social media, nowhere else,” the founder of the Australia-based global megachurch declared in a video on Facebook Wednesday.
“I've been in active ministry for over 54 years, and in that time, I've seen the fallout of pornography on individuals, on marriages, on families, and I detest it.”
The 72-year-old Houston said at the time the post appeared on his X page that he and his wife, Bobbie, were “in bed.”
Taking issue with The Christian Post’s use of the word "hacked" in last week's report, Houston clarified that he never used the word hacked and instead said "compromised," adding that there is a difference between an account being hacked and compromised.
“According to The Christian Post, and probably others, they said, and a tweet that I did since then, that I said that I was hacked. I never used the word hacked. That's false. It's untrue. I did say my account was compromised, and you might say, 'Well, what's the difference?' But I think that there's a difference,” he explained.
“I don't believe that it's likely that anyone actually hacked into my X account. Not impossible, but not likely. I think there's a different explanation. I believe that someone has used one of my own devices, using my own passcode, to access my phone without my knowledge or my permission.
"Someone with a grudge wanted to cause maximum damage, but perhaps minimum effort, to smear me and to humiliate me. And I don't think it's the first time it's happened.”
Houston, who, after leaving Hillsong, launched the ministry Jesusfollowers.tv with his wife, said in an X post last week: “This account was compromised overnight. Any odd posts, links, or messages shared earlier were not legitimate and have been reported and deleted. Thank you for your patience.”
The pastor further clarified that he didn’t believe this was the first time the unknown person had gained access to his accounts and said he and his wife were offended by the post.
“If you were exposed to that video, and you were disgusted or offended, I totally understand. Bobbie and I feel exactly the same way,” he said before asking for prayers.
“Bobbie and I are not quitters. We keep trucking on. I'm asking you to pray for us, and we will certainly continue to pray for all the people in our world. God bless you,” he ended.
In a separate incident in 2024, Houston said his X account was hacked after the account tweeted the words “ladies and girls kissing,” drawing scrutiny from social media users.
Houston later reposted a statement shared by one of his assistants urging users to disregard any recent posts that “seem out of the normal.”
“Rest assured we are working on discovering how Ps. Brian was hacked,” the statement read at the time. “Our team has ascertained that someone logged into his account from a location within the USA. We’ve changed his password so here’s hoping they no longer have access. Please disregard anything that seems out of the normal. For your safety remember Pastor Brian does not contact anyone privately.”
In January 2022, Hillsong Church announced that Houston was stepping down from his role at the church's helm.
Before his formal resignation from Hillsong Church, Houston initially stepped down from Hillsong's boards in September 2021 as he faced criminal charges related to allegations he concealed sex abuse committed by his father, Frank Houston, decades earlier after he heard about it in 1999. Houston denied any wrongdoing, and an Australian court later found him not guilty of the charges.
Four months before the acquittal, Houston pled guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol and driving with a blood alcohol content of .08% or more in California. He was also sentenced to three years' probation, a $140 fine, and other penalties.
Court records show that after an arrest on Feb. 26, 2022, Houston pled "not guilty" to driving under the influence of alcohol, driving with a blood alcohol content of .08% or more, and failing to display two license plates on the vehicle he was driving.
The Hillsong Church founder, who was set for a pre-trial hearing that June, reversed course on the drinking charges while the charge for failing to display two license plates on the vehicle he was driving was dismissed.
In addition to the three-year probation and the $140 fine he received for the driving under the influence charge, the court required him to complete a three-month first-offender alcohol program, victim impact counseling, and participate in self-help meetings for one year.
Hillsong Church said Houston violated the church’s pastoral code of conduct by entering the hotel room of an unidentified woman for 40 minutes while under the influence of alcohol and prescription drugs during the church’s annual conference in 2019.
Houston doesn’t recall having sex with the woman, and the woman has not said if they had sex. Their accounts of what happened are not entirely reliable because they were impaired by alcohol, Dooley suggested in meeting with church staffers last Friday. Houston was also under the influence of anxiety medication.
Houston also exchanged an “inappropriate text message” with a staffer in 2013. According to Dooley, the text message was “along the lines of, ‘If I was with you I would like to give you a kiss and a cuddle or a hug.’” The staffer resigned shortly after. Hillsong Church blamed Houston’s actions in this case on “sleeping tablets.”
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Houston's troubles seem to reflect troubles with Hillsong leadership around the world. Conspiracy theorists like me tend to wonder what doors were left open for Satan to so attack so many leaders of Hillsong churches.
Carl Lentz, who led Hillsong Church in New York City and oversaw the East Coast operation of the megachurch in the United States, was fired in November 2020 over “leadership issues” and moral failures, including being unfaithful to his wife.
A month later, officials in the U.S. branch of the church confirmed with The Christian Post that they investigated and took action on a 2018 letter of complaint alleging inappropriate sexual relations between staff and volunteers at the Hillsong NYC location.
Then in February 2021, Anna Crenshaw, the daughter of a Pennsylvania pastor, reported that Hillsong staff administrator Jason Mays, a married volunteer singer and the son of the church’s head of human resources, sexually assaulted her at a social gathering while she attended Hillsong College in Australia. It took a serious fight from Crenshaw and her father to prosecute Mays, who is still listed as creative director and head of sync at Hillsong Music.
Crenshaw argued that Mays should have been fired. But in commenting on the case, Houston argued that “the Lord has forgiven Jason,” and he is just not a “sexual predator.”
“The Lord has forgiven Jason and we felt he deserved another chance after we weighed up the judge’s findings and comments. As well as giving consideration to the suspension Jason had served and the conditions he had met,” Houston said.
“He was restored to paid work and volunteering, which we believe to be in line with biblical principles of discipline and restoration. One thing I do know is that we are not talking about a sexual predator here. We’re talking about a young man, young married man who did something stupid. Got much drunker than he should, which is an issue that we should keep addressing, and got himself in a bad situation.”
In April 2021, it was revealed that former Hillsong Dallas Lead Pastor Reed Bogard and his wife, Jess, were under investigation for leadership failures when they abruptly resigned in January of that year, resulting in a pause of the Texas campus.
In May 2021, Darnell Barrett, creative director of Hillsong Church Montclair in New Jersey, resigned after claiming he accidentally sent explicit photos to a former church volunteer and confessed that he was unfaithful to his wife.
Other evidence, reviewed by CP, also suggests that Hillsong Church has fended off much more serious allegations of sexual misconduct by at least one former leader.
In their statement Wednesday, Hillsong Church leaders acknowledged that they still had much work to do concerning their governance structure and asked for prayers.
“As you can appreciate, there is still much to be done and our church leadership continues seeking God for His wisdom as we set the course for the future,” the statement said. “We acknowledge that change is needed. We have committed to an independent review of our governance structure and processes, understanding that this is a time of humble reflection and we are committed to doing what is necessary to ensure God is honored, and our eyes are fixed on Jesus.”
A Tennessee musician has been charged with 160 counts related to alleged child sex abuse, including rape, according to court documents.
Phillip Vaught was arrested over the weekend following an extensive and lengthy investigation by Hendersonville police.
A Sumner County indictment lists 160 counts against Vaught, which include sexual abuse of a child, rape and exploitation.
The charges, according to local news outlet WECT, include five counts alleging sexual abuse of a child, including aggravated rape and soliciting sexual exploitation. A further 76 counts allege that Vaught unlawfully and knowingly used a minor in the production of material that includes the minor engaging in sexual activity. Several other counts relate to allegations of possession of child pornography, amongst other charges.
Court records indicate the alleged crimes date back to 2015 and continued as recently as January 2026.
Vaught, a Nashville-based country rock singer, has been described as a crossover artist with Christian and gospel roots. His father is a Baptist minister.
He is currently being held on a $1.5 million bond.
Former SBC Pastor Receives 3 Consecutive Life Sentences Following Conviction for Child Sex Abuse Material
Jonathan Elwing, a former Southern Baptist pastor, has been convicted of multiple charges involving child sex abuse material (CSAM). He has been given 12 life sentences in total.
Editor’s note: This article refers to disturbing reports of child sex abuse, which some readers might find triggering.
Elwing was serving as pastor of Palm View Baptist Church in Palmetto, Florida, at the time of his arrest in June 2024. The church is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).
Elwing resigned from his role as pastor shortly before being taken into custody.
Elwing was arrested after an investigation revealed that he used cryptocurrency to purchase CSAM. Law enforcement executed a search warrant at the church and Elwing’s home and found CSAM on Elwing’s phone.
At the time, Larry Bianchi, the chair of Palm View’s deacon board, denounced Elwing’s crimes and emphasized that “the people of the church are the church.”
“The pastor may be the front man, he may be the leader of the church—and we need a new one,” Bianchi said. “But Palm View Baptist Church will go on because of the strength of the congregation.”
“Personally, I keep thinking it is a really bad dream, and I am going to wake up from it, but unfortunately, this happens in society,” said Bianchi. “It happens more often than not in places where children can be seen. There’s a lot of children in church.”
Prosecutors later added 14 additional charges to Elwing’s case. These charges included six more counts of possession of CSAM, six counts of use of a child in a sexual performance, and two counts of sexual battery on a person less than 12 years old—which is a capital offense.
It sounds like some insane Orwellian satire and warning all rolled into one, but it’s actually just another day in shattered, staggering, dhimmi Britain. At one primary school in England, the administrator and teachers saw the writing on the wall and the direction in which Britain is heading, and took action accordingly: they instituted a program to teach their children how to pray as Muslims.
Adding to the dark cloud of cultural suicide that hangs over this entire affair is the fact that the place where this happened, which is unnamed in the news reports about the incident, is identified as a Church of England school. Now, the Church of England is a far-left institution that has long ago left behind most of the core elements of traditional Christianity, but to teach children how to pray after the manner of a rival faith that teaches that Christianity is false and will lead you to hell is taking leftism and apostasy to a whole new level.
The controversy began, according to a Wednesday report in the Telegraph, when a father of one of the children present lodged a complaint. “The father claimed his seven-year-old daughter’s class was shown a video of people kneeling on prayer mats in the direction of Mecca and reciting a prayer to Allah during a religious education lesson last Wednesday, before being told to ‘have a go’ themselves.”
The children duly complied, and this man’s daughter told him about it the following day: “We did prayers to Allah yesterday.” However, the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln, “speaking on behalf of the school, disputed the claims.” A Diocesan Board of Education wonk claimed that it was all perfectly innocent: “During the lesson, which began following the relevant lesson plan, pupils were invited to demonstrate some of the movements associated with Muslim prayer.” Nothing wrong with that, now, is there, you racist, bigoted “Islamophobe”?
The wonk continued: “Although this was outside the lesson’s intended approach, it was not an act of worship – no prayers or religious words were spoken and no child was required to take part. No mats were used and pupils were not asked to face any particular direction.”
Sure. He could also have pointed out that the prayer was all wrong from an Islamic standpoint, as the girls were praying together with the boys, which would never have happened if the children had been in a mosque. In Islamic prayer, the women pray behind the men; if a woman (or a dog, or a donkey) passes in front of a man during prayer, his prayer is invalidated.
A nearly six-hour investigation released by Christian apologist Mike Winger sent shockwaves through charismatic Christian circles, raising allegations of deception, sexual misconduct and institutional failure centered on prophetic minister Shawn Bolz — andprompting a response from Bethel Church leadership.
In the video, “The Skeletons in Bethel’s Closet are Now Going to Speak,” Winger details what he describes as a decade-long pattern of fraudulent prophetic practices and sexually inappropriate behavior by Bolz, claims of which he said are backed up by interviews with former employees, ministry associates and insiders.
Winger also accused prominent church leaders of failing to warn congregants and the global Christian community after learning of allegations years earlier.
“This is cover-up culture,” he said. “The elites all knew about it. … I'm doing [this video] for the benefit and blessings of the Charismatic Church. I'm exposing a whole bunch of corruption inside the Charismatic Church. It has to be done.”
Winger’s investigation focuses first on Bolz’s public prophetic ministry, which for years drew large crowds through highly specific “words of knowledge,” including birth dates, addresses, family names and personal details, delivered as divine revelation.
According to Winger, former insiders alleged Bolz obtained such information through natural means, particularly social media, and then presented it as supernatural insight.
“I started to get birth dates and anniversary dates of strangers, grounding them in the knowledge that God knows them and cares about what they care about,” Bolz himself said in a 2016 interview cited by Winger. “I began to hear where people went to school and the types of careers they had, right, almost like it was information on their ‘about’ tab.”
Winger said the pattern intensified after 2013, coinciding with the widespread adoption of social media platforms. He described the practice as a deliberate strategy that allowed Bolz to deliver increasingly detailed prophetic words with minimal risk of being exposed.
Winger stressed that the description closely mirrored online research rather than prophetic revelation, adding: “Almost like he was reading them off of something like Facebook.”
More seriously, Winger said multiple former employees and associates accused Bolz of sexually inappropriate and abusive behavior spanning more than a decade.
“What these guys describe is sexually domineering behavior,” Winger said. “I would call it grooming. I think it qualifies as sexual deviancy that disqualifies a person from ministry. … it's sick and dark.”
According to Winger, witnesses described repeated incidents of Bolz's nudity in front of younger men and his self-gratification in front of subordinates, often during ministry travel in hotel rooms or vehicles.
“This is the pattern, ongoing, continual behavior in trapped conditions without consent,” Winger said. “Consent wouldn't make it OK; it would still be morally wrong. But it is different.”
Winger said some alleged victims described long-term psychological harm, including suicidal ideation and symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder.
“One of the men told me this led him to suicidal ideation and PTSD episodes,” Winger said.
Winger emphasized he interviewed witnesses separately and said their accounts corroborated one another across different time periods and locations.
A major portion of Winger’s investigation centers on the role of church leadership, particularly Bethel Church, a globally influential charismatic congregation in Redding, California, that platformed Bolz for years. He alleged that Bethel Church leadership was aware of sexual allegations against Bolz for years but failed to act publicly.
“Bethel leadership knew about this for nearly five years, at least,” Winger said.
He criticized what he described as a pattern of quiet distancing rather than public accountability, emphasizing that such an approach left congregants and ministry participants vulnerable.
“Discernment kills momentum,” Winger said.
In a Jan. 25 statement in response to Winger’s video, Bethel Church leadership publicly acknowledged failures in how it handled allegations involving Bolz, admitting the church did not act with sufficient clarity, urgency or transparency.
We take responsibility for the fact that we did not properly and fully bring discipline, closure, or clear and timely communication regarding the gravity of our concerns with Shawn Bolz,” the statement said.
“The truth is, we have hurt and scared people because we did not tell the truth enough, early enough, long enough, or loud enough, and this is a just criticism. Our hearts are grieved, and embarrassed.”
The statement was signed by senior leaders Bill Johnson, Kris Vallotton and Dann Farrelly, who said Bolz had been platformed to preach and prophesy at Bethel and with its teams on multiple occasions until 2019.
According to Vallotton, Bethel leaders first received allegations of sexual harassment in 2019 from a former member of Bolz’s team. He said subsequent conversations with three former team members corroborated the claims and revealed what he described as a problematic culture within Bolz’s ministry.
“We platformed him because we believed in him,” Vallotton said. “And when he failed, and failed to repent, it was our responsibility to tell people that we no longer trusted him in order to protect them. That was my decision to not communicate more widely, and my error in judgement.”
Bethel leaders also said they received evidence Bolz had used social media to obtain personal information presented as prophetic revelation.
“We believe that Shawn was not truthful in how he received his words of knowledge and prophetic words,” the statement said.
At the conclusion of the statement, Bethel leadership said it no longer endorses Bolz’s ministry and warned others to consider its position.
“We also acknowledge our belief that he engaged in sexually explicit and harassing behavior towards some members of his staff,” the statement said. “We do not condone his actions, or endorse his ministry. We strongly advise you to take our position into account if you choose to interact with his materials.”
Bethel leaders said the church has since implemented additional accountability measures, including a third-party Safe Church reporting system and expanded leadership oversight. The church invited anyone affected by Bolz’s prophetic words or alleged misconduct to seek support through counseling and pastoral care.
“I showed mercy in one area and not the other,” Johnson said in a separate message included in the statement. “And that seriously affected those who should not have been traumatized any more than they were.”
Johnson acknowledged that his reluctance to confront Bolz publicly delayed accountability and contributed to further harm.
“It was incredibly careless. I realize now that I contributed to their trauma, and I am deeply grieved by this and am sorry. Sometimes it is your action, and sometimes, your lack of action, that causes harm, and I know that I failed.”
In his video, Winger framed the Bolz case as emblematic of a wider problem within certain Charismatic movements, one he said rewards spectacle, suppresses discernment and minimizes accountability. Still, he stressed his goal was not to attack charismatic Christianity as a whole, but to call for reform.
“I'm doing this for the Charismatic Church. I love you guys. I believe in the gifts,” he said. “ I'm hoping to bring positive reform into the charismatic church. … please consider how to stop this stuff from happening again inside your own fellowships and to your own people, because it's not worth revival culture to victimize your own people and put them in front of fake prophets and tell them about fake healings and all this other stuff. It has to stop, and it has to stop now.”
Bolz was contacted for comment regarding the allegations raised in Winger’s investigation, but did not respond by time of publication.
Assemblies of God churches shielded accused predators — and allowed them to keep abusing children
NBC News uncovered a 50-year pattern of sex abuse, silence and cover-up in the world’s largest Pentecostal denomination.
Nobody called police after Stephanie Davis said she caught her children's pastor secretly filming girls around 2004; he went on to sexually assault two children.Houston Cofield for NBC News
This article is part of “Pastors and Prey,” a series investigating sex abuse allegations in the Assemblies of God.
A children’s pastor was caught filming girls in a church bathroom in Arkansas. Elders suspended him for a few weeks.
In Illinois, a preacher was accused of sexually abusing children. Church leaders sent him to therapy rather than call police.
In California, a worship minister went to prison for molesting boys. His congregation threw him a party when he returned.
All of these men remained in ministry in the Assemblies of God, the world’s largest Pentecostal denomination. All went on to abuse more children.
Since the 1970s, Assemblies of God churches have repeatedly reinstated ministers and volunteer leaders accused of sexual misconduct, returning them to pulpits and youth groups, an NBC News investigation found. While some of the other largest Christian denominations now require safeguards such as background checks and mandatory reporting, national Assemblies of God leaders have resisted, arguing such rules would increase legal risk, undermine its commitment to local church autonomy and defy a core biblical command: to forgive.
The result is a patchwork system that has protected accused predators and left generations of children in danger.
NBC News identified nearly 200 Assemblies of God pastors, church employees and volunteer leaders accused of sexual abuse over the past half century, based on a nationwide search of lawsuits, criminal records and news archives. Together, they allegedly abused more than 475 people — the overwhelming majority of them children. The allegations stretch into this year, when a 10-year-old girl said in a lawsuit that her pastor groped her during Bible study.
Survivors say they were violated in sanctuaries, at pastors’ homes and in tents on camping trips. A California preacher was accused of holding knives to children’s chests while forcing them to perform sex acts on each other. In Louisiana, a youth leader confessed to drugging and assaulting three boys during a sleepover. A couple in New Mexico say their pastor used his spiritual authority to drive them apart, then coerced the wife into sex.
Of the alleged abusers, 123 were ministers, and nearly half of those were youth pastors. Others were church employees, youth group leaders or Sunday school teachers. Dozens were accused of luring boys through the Royal Rangers, a Pentecostal version of the Boy Scouts.
In about 30 instances, church leaders placed alleged abusers into positions of authority after they had been accused, freeing them to strike again. Convicted sex offenders led youth groups. Accused ministers were reinstated or quietly moved to new congregations. As a result, according to lawsuits and police records, dozens more children were abused.
In nearly 40 other cases, leaders allegedly covered up or dismissed reports of misconduct — often by failing to alert police or pressuring victims to stay quiet. Melody Meza recalled a leader in her congregation praying for lying, demonic spirits to leave her after she reported abuse by a church elder.
“They made me feel like something was wrong with me and not the person abusing me,” said Meza, one of nearly 20 people suing an Assemblies of God church in California accused of concealing decades of abuse.
Others said preachers twisted scripture to silence them. “Touch not the Lord’s anointed,” pastors warned, citing a verse from Psalms that some interpret as a command to never question spiritual leaders.
Courtney Blackburn said she wishes her church’s former leaders had looked to another passage, one in which Jesus commanded followers to protect children. When she reported misconduct by her youth pastor in Arkansas, she said, they left him in place.
