Small town Arkansas Pastor Rocky Goodwin is facing 10 felony charges, which include distributing, possessing, and viewing matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child.
Editor’s note: This article contains details about child sex abuse that some readers might find disturbing and/or triggering.
Goodwin, 86, is the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Warren, Arkansas.
According to the affidavit for the warrant of arrest, an Arkansas State Police (ASP) special agent started investigating Goodwin in 2023 after receiving a tip from Lenore Paladino, an analyst for the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force.
Paladino was alerted when Microsoft reported Goodwin “for violation of terms of service for using Bing reverse image search to upload an image of Child Sexual Abuse Materials (CSAM) to his account in order to receive other Bing image search results of similar CSAM material on May 23, 2023.”
In the months that followed, agents were alerted to two more incidents of CSAM from Goodwin’s internet address. Through the investigation, the agent concluded that the images were being viewed from inside Goodwin’s residence.
RELATED: Southern California Pastor Out on $500,000 Bond Following Arrest for Child Sex Abuse Charges
On May 3, ASP Criminal Investigation Division agents executed a search warrant at Goodwin’s residence and seized “several digital devices,” including a laptop that possessed compressed zip files that were labeled with “sexually graphic” descriptions. One of the files was labeled “12 year old girl.”
On June 20, after obtaining a search warrant to examine Goodwin’s laptop, investigators found 71 images of CSAM on the hard drive.
Goodwin “denied any knowledge of the Child Sexual Abuse Material” that was taken from his residence and “denied operating the laptop” in an “illegal manner.” Goodwin also told agents that “he knew no other person that could have had access” to his laptop.
The charges against Goodwin were filed on Sept. 16.
RELATED: Tennessee Pastor, Father of 11 Dies by Suicide After Being Charged With Sexual Battery of a Minor
Goodwin’s lawyer told reporters that the allegations against Goodwin are “false” and that he and Goodwin are “looking forward to Mr. Goodwin’s day in court and are confident that he will be exonerated.”
Goodwin is still listed as the pastor on Calvary Baptist Church’s website and, according THV11 News, could still be seen preaching via the church’s Facebook livestream. The Facebook page has since been deactivated. The church’s website has also been taken down.
If found guilty, Goodwin faces up to 10 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine. Goodwin is scheduled to be arraigned on Sept. 28 in Bradley County.
ChurchLeaders has reached out to Calvary Baptist Church and will update this article in the event of a response.
