Jonathan Elwing, a former Southern Baptist pastor, has been convicted of multiple charges involving child sex abuse material (CSAM). He has been given 12 life sentences in total.
Editor’s note: This article refers to disturbing reports of child sex abuse, which some readers might find triggering.
Elwing was serving as pastor of Palm View Baptist Church in Palmetto, Florida, at the time of his arrest in June 2024. The church is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).
Elwing resigned from his role as pastor shortly before being taken into custody.
Elwing was arrested after an investigation revealed that he 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.
At the time, Larry Bianchi, the chair of Palm View’s deacon board, denounced Elwing’s crimes and 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.”
“Personally, I keep thinking it is a really bad dream, and I am going to wake up from it, but unfortunately, this happens in society,” said Bianchi. “It happens more often than not in places where children can be seen. There’s a lot of children in church.”
Elwing was initially charged with four counts of possession of CSAM.
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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.
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