Posted on 08/19/2024 1:28:21 PM PDT by Morgana
The minister was outspoken against sexual abuse reforms in the SBC
Jonathan Elwing, 43, a pastor from Palmetto, Florida, is facing a minimum sentence of life without parole over harrowing child rape allegations. However, due to an updated Florida death penalty law, he could receive capital punishment if convicted.
According to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, police initially charged the father of four with four counts of possessing child pornography for using cryptocurrency to buy explicit images of children from the dark web. Detectives began investigating Elwing after a crypto-currency company tipped them about the purchases.
Days later, police conducted a search warrant at Elwing’s home and the church where he pastored. On his cell phone, they found explicit images of him sexually battering a 2-year-old. The images included his face and made obvious the identity and age of the child, court records show.
Nearly a month later, police found enough material to charge Elwing with over 20 counts of possession of child pornography.
For five years, Elwing has been the senior pastor at Palm View First Baptist Church in Palmetto, Florida. Elwing resigned from Palm View shortly before his arrest.
Detectives found two hidden cameras in Elwing’s home and eight in the church office, whose building links with the Educational Harbor private Christian school, where his wife Krystal Elwing is a teacher.
Palm View FBC is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), which has struggled to properly resolve issues that have arisen from a scathing 2019 report accusing the convention of mishandling sexual assault cases. Elwing has reportedly opposed SBC reforms against sexual abuse, including the recommendation by the SBC’s Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force (ARITF) to pay Guidepost Solutions to maintain a website of people credibly accused of sexual abuse in the SBC.
In a Facebook post from February 2023, Elwing said the church would not give “one dime” to Guidepost Solutions, adding that “this very well could be the straw that breaks the back of the SBC.”
Palm View FBC issued a public statement confirming Elwing’s resignation and the church’s cooperation with authorities during the investigation.
A grand jury indicted Elwing on July 10 for sexual battery of a child. He faces a minimum sentence of life without parole if convicted, but prosecutors could also press for the death penalty under a 2023 Florida law that allows for the ultimate sentence for sexual battery of a child under the age of 12. Juries in Florida need just eight of the 12 to agree to execution.
In April 2023, the Florida Legislature passed a bill expanding death penalty eligibility for those convicted for sexual battery of a child under 12, following Governor Ron DeSantis’ push for harsher penalties. A month later, Gov. DeSantis signed the bill, and it became effective on October 1, 2023, enabling the state of Florida to pursue a death sentence for adult convictions of sexual battery of a child under 12.
Elwing remains in custody at the Manatee County Jail. The investigation is ongoing.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Why does MinistryWatch report on sex crimes? These stories are tough to read and sometimes even tougher to report, but we think they are vital to our mission to bring transparency, accountability, and credibility to the evangelical church. To read more about why and how we report these stories, read “Why MinistryWatch Reports On Sex Crimes.” You can find that story here.
I thought Anthony Kennedy barred executions for child rapists years ago.
child abuserz, and those ‘uncles’, once proven in court, should stop breathing in a week! being nice, give them time to get their papers in order.
i am speaking as one who had’an uncle’.
I really believe the seminaries, Churches, etc have been co opted and infected with perverts. They are here to kill, rob and destroy.
This is in Florida and I think they changed the laws with DeSantis
Someone help me out here, what are the Florida laws now?
sorry you went thru that.
So I guess celibacy isn’t the cause of deviancy.
You should speak to others that have been abused like this——
I am sorry this has happened to you. I would beat the living crap out of anyone trying this on ANY of my family!
“I really believe the seminaries, Churches, etc have been co opted and infected with perverts. They are here to kill, rob and destroy.”
100%!
As weird as I am, I’m just thankful that I don’t know what “sexual battery” means... and I don’t WANT to know.
As well as schools. Predators go where there is easy prey. If found guilty and convicted, this guy should be put to death.
Jesus came to Destroy
The works of the devil.
Amen 🙏🏻!
He’s definitely a heretic and a fake Christian (but I’m just repeating myself).
Geezzzzz.....and they can marry!!
Jesus DID destroy the eternal work of the devil——
That’s right.
Definition: Forced or attempted oral, anal, or vaginal penetration by using a sexual organ or an object simulating a sexual organ, or the anal or vaginal penetration of another by any body part or foreign object. Both males and females can be victims of sexual battery.
https://www.fldoe.org/safe-schools/sesir-discipline-data/sexual-battery.stml
Thank you Liz.
He will be popular in prison
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