A former youth pastor will spend roughly a decade behind bars after pleading guilty to having sex with a 16-year-old church member. Alexander Blackwelder was on staff at East Main Church of Christ in Tupelo, Mississippi, at the time of the crime.
Editor’s note: This article refers to reports of child sex abuse, which some readers might find triggering and/or disturbing.
In a statement following Blackwelder’s arrest, the Tupelo Police Department said that it had “received an anonymous tip pertaining to a possible inappropriate relationship between a local youth pastor and a minor.”
“Detectives with the Tupelo Police Department investigated the tip and were able to determine that the tip was valid,” the statement added.
During interviews with investigators, Blackwelder reportedly admitted to having consensual sex twice with the 16-year-old student.
The victim told investigators that she initiated the relationship by exchanging sexual pictures and videos with Blackwelder. She also said that she and Blackwelder had sex four times.
Blackwelder was taken into custody in February 2023 and charged with two counts of sexual battery by a person in position of authority of a child and one count of enticement of a child to produce visual depiction of sexual conduct.
Blackwelder was initially held without bond in the Lee County Jail.
A judge later set a $350,000 bond, but it appears that Blackwelder remained behind bars for the entirety of the criminal proceedings.
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At the bond hearing, Blackwelder’s father told the judge that Blackwelder had resigned his role as youth pastor and requested that Blackwelder’s bond be set at $60,000—a figure the family could possibly afford.
