A former Southern Baptist pastor facing numerous charges involving child sex abuse and child sex abuse material (CSAM) has received a trial date. Jonathan Elwing was serving as pastor of Palm View Baptist Church in Palmetto, Florida, at the time of his arrest in June 2024.
Editor’s note: This article refers to disturbing reports of child sex abuse, which some readers might find triggering.
Elwing resigned from his role as pastor shortly before being taken into custody. At the time, Larry Bianchi, the chair of Palm View’s deacon board, emphasized that “the people of the church are the church.”
“The pastor may be the front man, he may be the leader of the church—and we need a new one,” Bianchi said. “But Palm View Baptist Church will go on because of the strength of the congregation.”
Elwing was initially taken into custody after an investigation revealed that he allegedly used cryptocurrency to purchase CSAM. Law enforcement executed a search warrant at the church and Elwing’s home and found CSAM on Elwing’s phone. He was initially charged with four counts of possession of CSAM.
Prosecutors later added 14 additional charges to Elwing’s case. These charges included six more counts of possession of CSAM, six counts of use of a child in a sexual performance, and two counts of sexual battery on a person less than 12 years old—which is a capital offense.
When the new charges were filed, a statement from Manatee County Sheriff’s Office revealed disturbing details surrounding Elwing’s case.
“A forensic search of the former pastor’s cell phone revealed images of him sexually battering a child along with the production and possession of 12 images of child pornography,” the statement said. “This is in addition to the four sexually explicit images of children found in his possession last week.”
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Prior to his arrest, Elwing had been involved with Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) denominational politics. Elwing had been a member of the Florida chapter of the Conservative Baptist Network (CBN), a group formed in 2020 to combat what it sees as “liberal drift” in the SBC.
