Baptist Pastor Arrested for Child Porn Possession After Authorities Search Parsonage
I bet this pastor is married. (Probably has kids, too.) They usually are married.
Many men are not fit or moral enough to serve as pastors. Complementarians have no leg to stand on, not even with their cherry-picked, ‘I forbid a woman to teach’ verses they always like to harp on.
(Link): NH pastor charged with child pornography possession after 5-year investigation
by A. Conklin, March 19, 2022
A New Hampshire pastor has been charged with multiple counts of possessing child pornography after a five-year investigation, according to court documents.
Nashua police arrested Stephen Bates, 46, on March 15. The Bible Baptist Church pastor is now facing five counts of possession of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and is being held on $3,000 cash bail.
“I think this case is particularly concerning because he is a pastor and somebody that’s involved in the community here,” Nashua Police Lt. Brian Trefry told WHDH.
The Nashua Police Department has been investigating Bates since 2016, when the department received 14 tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children alleging that a user at the church had uploaded CSAM from an IP address leading back to the church.
…On March 15, police executed a search warrant and contacted Bates, who gave police two flash drives from his back pocket. The USBs showed various child sex abuse images, according to the affidavit.
(Link): Nashua, NH Pastor facing child pornography charge
NASHUA, N.H. — A pastor in Nashua, NH has been arrested and charged in connection with an extensive child pornography investigation.
Police in Nashua Tuesday arrested 46-year-old Pastor Stephen Bates at the Bible Baptist Church.
Investigators say that church has been connected to several investigations beginning in 2016, when they were contacted by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children with a cybertip indicated child pornography had been accessed by an IP address at the church.
(Link): NH Pastor Faces New Charges in Investigation Dating Back Over 5 Years
A pastor at a New Hampshire church now faces five felony charges of possession of child sexual abuse images after investigators said they found five graphic videos showing child sex abuse images on a flash drive in his pocket.
Stephen Bates, 46, was arrested Tuesday morning at the Bible Baptist Church on Caldwell Road, where he lives, on a felony charge of possession of child sexual abuse images. Court documents released Thursday show he is now facing five charges of possession of child sexual abuse images, instead of just one.
The documents also show Bates had been under investigation dating back to 2016 after several different investigations across the country pointed back to an IP address associated with his church.
A court affidavit said that when Bates was arrested on Tuesday, he had two USB drives in his pants pocket. A forensic review of the drives showed child sexual abuse images in various folders involving children as young as 13.
(Link): NH Pastor Charged With Possession of Child Sex Abuse Images
Stephen Bates, 46, was arrested Tuesday morning at the Bible Baptist Church on Caldwell Road, where he lives
…A year later, police in Tallahassee, Florida, investigating the publishing of child sexual abuse images on the internet discovered the account responsible for publishing the images used an IP address associated with the same New Hampshire church.
Again in 2021, a Homeland Security investigation into the sexual exploitation of a child in Blaine, Washington, found that the suspect in that case had communicated with an unknown individual through social media “about their shared interest in having sexual contact with children.” Again, the IP address used by the unknown individual was associated with the Bible Baptist Church.
By Wednesday afternoon, the church’s website was down. Although police say no local victims have been identified, they’re encouraging any parishioners with concerns to come forward.
(Link): Baptist Pastor Arrested for Child Porn Possession After Authorities Search Parsonage
March 16, 2022
By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor
A Baptist pastor in New Hampshire was arrested for possession of child sexual abuse images, following an investigation by multiple law enforcement entities that lasted nearly six years.
The Nashua Police Department arrested 46-year-old Stephen Bates on Tuesday after executing a search warrant on the parsonage. Bates is the pastor of Bible Baptist Church of Nashua, an independent Baptist congregation.
Police said in a statement that while searching Bates’ parsonage, they found two flash drives on his person, which had “numerous images of child pornography” on them.
“As a result of him possessing child pornography Pastor Bates was arrested,” stated the Nashua Police Department on Tuesday. “Pastor Bates has been initially charged with Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Images but more charges are expected as the investigation continues and more digital evidence is analyzed.”
The charge is a Class A felony, according to authorities, and can carry a punishment of up to 15 years in state prison, exclusive of fines. Bates had his bail set at $3,000.
The investigation began in August 2016, when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children contacted Nashua Police with a tip indicating that child pornography had been accessed by a device with an IP address associated with Bible Baptist Church.
Offices of the Homeland Security Investigations in Denver, Colorado, and Blaine, Washington, conducted investigations into the distribution of child pornography and child sexual exploitation in 2019 and 2021. They also discovered the source of the crimes being an IP address associated with the church.
Additionally, in 2020, when police in Tallahassee, Florida, investigated the publishing of child pornography online, they learned that the account responsible for publishing the images “utilized an IP address associated with the Bible Baptist Church.”
…According to its website, Bible Baptist Church was founded in 1980 by a group of ex-Catholics. Bates became the church’s pastor in August 2005 following a unanimous vote.
Related:
(Link): Baptist Preacher Led Church for Five Years as Registered Sex Offender – and They Celebrated Him
(Link): How ‘Undercover Underage’ Star Roo Powell Busts Sex Predators
(Link): Southern Baptist Officials Knew of Sexual Abuse Allegations Eleven Years Before Leader’s Arrest
(Link): Baptist Preacher Hires His Mistress To Set His Wife On Fire
(Link): Married Preacher and Father of Boy Exposes His Naked Penis to Teen Girl in Store
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