An Arizona pastor has been arrested and remains in police custody after he was accused of sexually abusing a 16-year-old girl whom he was supposed to be offering grief counseling after the death of her brother.
The pastor, 61-year-old Stanley Jay of Worship Life Center Church in Mesa, was arrested on July 23 for multiple sexual abuse charges, according to records from the Maricopa Superior Court. He was charged with four counts of sexual abuse, two counts of sexual conduct with a minor, and one count of aggravated luring of a minor for sexual exploitation. He is being held on a $200,000 bond, according to AZ Central.
Neither Worship Life Center Church nor Living Praise Christian Church, where he previously worked as a minister and still features on their social media, immediately responded to calls for comment from The Christian Post. Worship Life Center Church has disabled its website and social media accounts.
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Court documents cited by AZ Central said that in early May, during a meeting with Jay, he touched the teenager over her clothing. The pastor later escalated his predation of the teenager and asked her to send him nude photos of herself while he sent her a video of his genitalia.
Even though she was disgusted by the request, the victim told police that she felt compelled to send the photos and was afraid to tell her mother.
The victim said she felt Pastor Jay took advantage of her while she was in a vulnerable position and asked her to “pinky promise” not to tell anyone about the abuse.
Jay’s wife reportedly announced in an email to his congregation in May that he was stepping down as pastor. She also confirmed with a church member that her husband and the victim had exchanged explicit text messages, according to court documents.
A church member reported the abuse to police on May 28, and detectives interviewed the victim, whose family was close with the pastor, a day later.
According to AZ Central, Pastor Jay described himself in a May 25 sermon to his church as a three-time convicted felon.
During a sermon on May 25, held on the birthday of “Pastor Stan,” days before he stepped down, Jay told members of his church he didn’t think he would “get to this point in life because of the life I’ve lived.”
In his sermon, Jay described himself as a three-time convicted felon who used to “smoke dope.”
He said God revived his life from a “concrete slab” and warned churchgoers to protect their minds from negative thinking.
“You’ve got to manage this thing,” he said of the mind, “or that thing’s going to ruin you.”
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