A former pastor in Lexington, Kentucky, has pleaded guilty to several charges related to child sex abuse. Zachary King, formerly the pastor of Lexington City Church, is expected to spend more than a decade behind bars.
Editor’s note: This article refers to reports of child sex abuse, which some readers might find triggering and/or disturbing.
On Monday, King, 48, entered a guilty plea for the charges of rape, sodomy, sexual abuse, unlawful use of electronic means to induce a minor to engage in sexual or other prohibited activities, and unlawful transaction with a minor.
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King was initially arrested in July 2024. He has admitted to having “sexual intercourse with the minor starting at age 15 in January 2023, continuing until April 2024.” King reportedly also specified that the abuse took place “in the minor’s home, at his residence, and at the church where he was a former pastor.”
King confessed to communicating with the child via WhatsApp and SnapChat, arranging meetups and receiving explicit photographs from the girl. He further said that he would pick the child up from her home and drive her up the road to have sex in his car.
King resigned from his position as pastor shortly before his arrest after being confronted by members of the congregation.
As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors have recommended that King receive a sentence of 13 years in prison and the requirement that he register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
King will also be barred from communicating with the victim for the next decade and has agreed not to object to that order being renewed.
Of King’s guilty plea, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said, “This so-called pastor’s abuse of his position of spiritual trust to prey on a young victim was heartbreaking.”
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“We are sending this predator to prison to protect more Kentuckians from horrific abuse,” Coleman added.
