A former youth pastor at a Texas church is in massive trouble now as he filmed underage girls taking baths in the church.
Fox News reports that a U.S. District Judge sentenced Chad Michael Rider, 49, of Anna, Texas, to 60 years in prison for producing child pornography. On July 22, 2022, a jury found Rider guilty of three counts of sexually exploiting children.
The U.S. Attorneys Office in the Eastern District of Texas said they were working with Homeland Security to investigate David Pettigrew of Denison, Texas, for child pornography allegations. During that investigation, they took a hard drive from Pettigrews office at the Denison Church of Nazarene. The drive contained videos that dated back to 2016 that show Rider and Pettigrew filmed underage girls while they were getting ready to bathe in the church. There were also other videos that Rider filmed with other children in the church as well.
Both men were indicted on September 1, 2020, of charges of conspiring to sexually exploit children, which is also known as the production of child pornography. The indictment revealed at least two images that Pettigrew allegedly e-mailed at the end of May 2020. Both images either show the girls fully nude or with their genitals exposed. Therefore, these images certainly qualify as child pornography, and they are alarming and disgusting images.
The indictment also alleged that both men did conspire and attempt to employ, use, persuade, induce, entice, and coerce minor victims to engage in sexually explicit conduct.
U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston spoke on the matter, saying: Justice has been served on Chad Michael Rider for his role in the production of child pornography, and He used his trusted roles as a church leader, caregiver to at-risk teens, and as a trusted member of his community to plant secret recording devices in bathrooms and other places where children would be disrobed.
He continued by saying that Rider breached the parents trust, who sent their children to church with this pastor. He continued:
This case stands as a stark reminder of our common duty as citizens to watch out for the most vulnerable among us,
and
I appreciate the members of law enforcement, community members, and especially the victims who had the courage to stand up and stop Rider before he could victimize others.
It is one of the most disturbing stories that have come out of that area in a long time.
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