A former Idaho pastor has been sentenced to up to 17 years in prison for multiple charges related to child sex abuse material (CSAM). Matthew Masiewicz will spend at least 12 years behind bars and five more if he does not make parole.
Editor’s note: This article contains information about child sex abuse that some readers might find disturbing and/or triggering.
Masiewicz, 53, had been pastor of Sovereign Grace Fellowship in Nampa.
Masiewicz was arrested in September 2025 and charged with six counts of distributing CSAM via an anonymous messaging app, six counts of possessing pornographic material, and one count of altering an image using AI.
Masiewicz reportedly denied any physical contact with children but admitted to using AI to alter images to create CSAM.
Investigators began looking into Masiewicz’s online activities in August 2025, and they believe that they uncovered crimes dating back to March of that year. The Idaho Crimes Against Children agency was notified after six files of CSAM were sent over online messaging app Kik.
Investigators tied the messages back to an account named “GeneralAbner” and a group named “Church Pastors.” Those accounts were linked to the IP addresses of Masiewicz’s devices.
The “GeneralAbner” account allegedly spoke in the chat about using AI “alter images of women to make them look younger.”
“GeneralAbner” also reportedly sent a photo of a “daughter of a friend” to another user. That user commented, “oh god she’s stunning! F*** that little red dress!!! bet she had the prettiest panties on too!!”
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When investigators obtained a search warrant for Masiewicz’s home and devices, he initially denied having any knowledge of the Kik account. However, investigators said that he then put his hands behind his back and said, “I’m going to own this.”
