Virginia Beach pastor John Blanchard has been granted his request for his criminal record to be expunged after he was caught in a police sting targeting predators soliciting sex from minors online in October 2021.
Blanchard originally filed for expungement in December 2022. The ruling comes after a lengthy legal battle over whether Blanchard should be prosecuted.
Blanchard, who serves as lead pastor of Rock Church International, was one of 17 men arrested after they corresponded online with detectives from the Chesterfield County Police Special Victims Unit, who were posing as minors, and solicited sex. The suspects were arrested upon arriving at an agreed upon meeting place.
Blanchard preached at Rock Church two days later and did not disclose the charges pending against him. It was only after his arrest became publicly known through news reports that he agreed to temporarily step aside from his pastoral duties.
Rock Church has continued to support Blanchard throughout the legal process, which on more than one occasion has resulted in protests being held outside the church.
In October 2022, the charges against Blanchard were tentatively dropped, with prosecutors having the ability to refile if they felt they had a strong enough case.
Following their decision to drop charges, the Chesterfield County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office became the subject of criticism, both from legal experts, one of whom argued there was “no excuse not to prosecute,” and the local police chief, who continues to stand by the work of Chesterfield County detectives in the case.
For his part, Blanchard made a defiant return to the pulpit at Rock Church in December 2022, telling the congregation, “Over the past several months, I’ve been the subject of vicious and inhuman accusations. These statements are demonstrably false. You can dress up a lie, you can twist it, you can misrepresent it, but I’m sorry—a lie is still a lie.”
Blanchard vowed to take “legal action” to recover his “good name.”
Though Blanchard was originally granted his expungement request in December 2022, that decision was overturned in February of this year following a public outcry.
