The federal trial of a former youth pastor accused of child sex crimes has been postponed. Lindsey Whiteside, a former student and outreach coordinator at the Hernando campus of Getwell Church in Mississippi and a former high school basketball coach, was previously convicted of one felony state charge in the same case.
Editor’s note: This article refers to reports of child sex crimes that some readers might find triggering and/or disturbing.
Whiteside was initially arrested in November 2024 after being accused of sexually assaulting an underaged girl between May 14, 2024, and Nov. 6, 2024.
The victim was a student at Getwell Church Hernando’s youth group. Whiteside is accused of grooming the student and sexually assaulting her on two separate church-related trips.
Following Whiteside’s arrest, she was terminated from her role at Getwell Church, and the church told ChurchLeaders that it had cooperated with authorities in the case.
After agreeing to a plea deal, Whiteside was sentenced to three years of house arrest followed by seven years of probation and the requirement that she register as a sex offender.
The sentencing sparked backlash, as the DeSoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton had recommended the maximum sentence of 30 years behind bars. Barton characterized Whiteside’s sentence as “an absolute abomination of justice.”
“It is not right,” Barton said at the time. “This is the reason why people question whether our institutions actually serve victims.”
Barton indicated that his office would seek resentencing and that he would work with other jurisdictions to bring forth more charges, since Whiteside’s alleged crimes included transporting the underaged victim across state lines.
The judge in the case recused himself, arguing that Barton’s criticism had harmed his credibility and that Barton’s portrayal of the case was “selective and decidedly unnuanced.”
