Posted on 11/15/2023 9:17:31 AM PST by Morgana
A Florida church has removed its youth pastor, who pleaded guilty last year to exposing himself, shortly after The Roys Report (TRR) began inquiring about the man’s employment.
Austin W. Plappert, 26, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of exposing his sexual organs in September 2022, Volusia County court records show. A police report obtained by TRR also reveals a similar incident in 2020.
In late October 2023, Plappert and his wife were employed as youth directors at Pentecostals of Deland (POD) near Daytona Beach, according to an archived screenshot of the church’s website.
On Oct. 24, TRR first reached out to POD Senior Pastor Glenn Hires via email to inquire about Plappert’s employment at the church and if there was a restoration process. Hires didn’t answer, but Plappert wrote back saying Hires had forwarded him the email.
Plappert told TRR in his email response that he became youth director in 2023. But he wrote that he wasn’t on staff at the church at the time of what he called an “isolated incident” in March 2022. In Florida, a first-time offense for this charge is a misdemeanor of the first degree. A second offense is a felony of the third degree.
“This was an isolated incident, in which, with the support of my wife and my pastor, I received counciling (sic) for, both spiritual and professional,” he wrote. “When this incident occurred, we were in no position of staff or ministry. We only recently, in 2023, became youth directors at the church.”
Last Friday, TRR reached out to Hires again, through email, to ask about Plappert. Hires replied, “Austin Plappert has been removed from all duties, offices and opportunities related to the Pentecostals of Deland.”
Hires and his wife no longer appear on POD’s website. Charge of exposure of sexual organs
TRR has obtained two police reports, involving Plappert—one from Feb. 21, 2020, and one from March 18, 2022.
Both reports state that Plappert drove up to a woman, or women, who were walking along a road. Then he masturbated in front of them, while still in the car.
In the 2020 incident, the woman decided not to press charges, the report states. However, in the March 2022 incident, the women involved decided to press charges.
On Sept. 21, 2022, Plappert was given a 12-month probation to include a “deviant public behavior” course, psycho-sexual and mental health treatment, and no contact with the victims, records show.
Additional records show his probation was completed on Sept. 20, 2023.
Plappert didn’t answer TRR’s inquiry, asking the specific date in 2023 when he became a youth director. TRR also emailed Hires to ask when Plappert was removed from his position at the church, but Hires did not respond.
But in April 2023, Plappert preached at the church and shared updates on the children’s ministry, according to the church’s YouTube channel.
“I’m in the first quarter of the year . . . we’ve seen nine students receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and 10 baptized in Jesus’ name,” he told the congregation. “There was a P7 club that was started at University High School, which had 24 students added as of a week ago.”
Plappert also preached in 2020 and in August 2022, POD’s YouTube channel shows.
In Plappert’s April 2023 sermon at POD, Plappert preached on the importance of truth and righteousness.
“Young person, if you don’t do anything else, get ahold of truth,” he preached. “The church wants to water down righteousness. These young people need to see there’s a difference in how we live. Be separate. Right living is important. Right living is necessary . . . We need purity in our thoughts. We do not need to underestimate what goes on up here.”
On March 5, 2022, about two weeks before his second indecent exposure incident. Plappert married his current wife, Holly Plappert, court records show. POD Senior Pastor Glenn Hires signed the marriage license.
But those articles don’t fit the agenda.
A Church in Alabama will take him. He may have to start cross dressing or get married and hire some one or someones to murder his wife. But all in all the people in Alabama love people like him [preverts] to Pastor their Churches.
OK, I might have said "all types of sources" or "many sources", but at no time is a poster obliged to be all DEI on a topic in order to post on FR.
Could it be that, while many Catholics on FR are taking care of RC priest abuse, Morgana is focusing on the less-publicized (but just as devastating to its victims) sexual abuse among Protestants? What could your possible objection be? Do you think Jewish delis should also offer bacon and ham, and Christian churches also offer Islam?
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