Grace Baptist Pastor of Children's Ministry Fired after Arrest in Sex Trafficking Sting
Local 8
After a three-day investigation, nearly two dozen men were arrested on charges related to human trafficking, including Jason Evan Kennedy, a pastor of children's ministry at Grace Baptist in Karns. Grace Baptist responds Those with the church say Kennedy lost his job as a result of the arrest. The release stated: "The actions of the children’s pastor for which he has been arrested were part of his life outside the church, and we have received no questions or concerns related to his conduct within the church or its ministries." It said Kennedy was hired two-and-a-half years ago. Church administrators got a background check on Kennedy and it turned up no issues at the time. It did not indicate any previous problems. Church leaders believed Kennedy was a good fit because he listed a children's pastor as a reference on his application. That pastor affirmed Kennedy had no issues in his background. The release ended with the following statement: "We are praying for his family and will continue to provide the services of our ministry to them." The church will be closed until Monday. Details of Kennedy's arrest According to a police report, Kennedy responded to a Backpage.com ad via text message. The report says Kennedy was made aware that there would be two girls present, one was 15 years old. He negotiated $100 for a half hour of sex with both girls. He was told to go to a gas station on Merchants Road for further instructions. Then he received instructions to go to a hotel room where the girls were. The report says he stated he wanted to have sex with both underage girls he thought were inside. He put the agreed upon $100 on the counter. He removed his pants and then law enforcement took him into custody. "Our work is not finished. We want to make sure there is no safe place to hide for criminals who would victimize the most vulnerable among us. We want anyone answering an ad for sex to think that a TBI agent and a Knoxville Police officer may be on the other end of that line," said TBI Director Mark Gwyn. Kennedy is charged with human trafficking and patronizing prostitution. Another pastor charged TBI Director Mark Gwyn says another man, Zubin Parakh, responded to ads specifically indicating he was looking for underage girls to have sex with. Parakh was listed as a "Creative Pastor" for Lifehouse Church in Oak Ridge. "Law enforcement across the state are watching and we are working together to stop anyone from trying to buy or sell a child for sex," said Gwyn. 32 people arrested or cited, 23 men charged with trying to buy sex Agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and officers with the Knoxville Police Department worked together to arrest or cite 32 people on charges related to human trafficking. Twenty-three of those arrests were of men trying to buy sex from a prostitute. "These are men from our community. They include an engineer, a volunteer firefighter, a landscaper, a student. These are people we work with and live with," said Gwyn. Five women were arrested for working as prostitutes. Of those five, three accepted service from a non-profit to get out of prostitution. "This crime is grossly protected by stereotypes that tell us it happens to certain people and certain places. Many of us like to believe that those people and those places are not here in Knoxville, Tennessee," said Kate Trudell with the Community Coalition against Human Trafficking. "This is happening right here. It's happening behind the curtain and behind closed doors. The demand comes from every single sector in our community." Details of the investigation During the investigation, undercover agents posted ads on Backpage.com, including an ad posing as an underage girl. Three-hundred people made contact in relation to those ads. More than two dozen people made contact in relation to the ad of the agents posed as an underage girl. "What so many people in our community don't quite understand is that human trafficking is a demand driven crime. And that demand comes from every single part of our society, including those parts that we'd all like to believe are not part of the problem," said Trudell. Arrest list Michael Clayton, 43, Clinton, TN - Patronizing Prostitution Larry Quarles, 52, New Market, TN - Patronizing Prostitution Gerrado Merchant, 36, Jacksboro, TN - Patronizing Prostitution James Perkins, 50, Sweetwater, TN - Patronizing Prostitution Greg Hensley, 44, Mascot, TN - Patronizing Prostitution Jaton Johnson, 38, Knoxville, TN - Patronizing Prostitution, Simple Possession Samuel Rivers, 27, East Point, GA - Patronizing Prostitution, Unlawful Possession of a Weapon, Simple Possession Prashante Bhakta, 35, Columbus, NC - Patronizing Prostitution James Warren, 32, Newport, TN - Patronizing Prostitution Dariusz Jurczak, 45, Knoxville, TN - Patronizing Prostitution Gary Bauer, 56, Heiskell, TN - Patronizing Prostitution Nicholas Rains, 24, Maryville, TN - Patronizing Prostitution Ignacio Jimenez, 38, Maryville, TN - Patronizing Prostitution Patrick Douthat, 27, Knoxville, TN - Patronizing Prostitution Brandon Slatton, 22, Knoxville, TN - Patronizing Prostitution Jeffrey Sweeney, 63, Knoxivlle, TN - Patronizing Prostitution Robert Aiken, 48, Jacksboro, TN - Patronizing Prostitution Atari McNabb, 28, Knoxville, TN - Patronizing Prostitution Zubin Parakh, 32, Oak Ridge, TN - Patronizing Prostitution, Trafficking Jonathan McCarthy, 30, Augusta, GA - Patronizing Prostitution Jose Juarez, 38, Knoxville, TN - Patronizing Prostitution Robert Lambert, 40, Knoxville, TN - Patronizing Prostitution Cornelius Turner, 25, Memphis, TN - Promoting Prostitution Jerry Rhode, 63, Kodak, TN - Patronizing Prostitution Zachary Desha, 24, Knoxville, TN - Promoting Prostitution Jason Kennedy, 46, Knoxville, TN - Patronizing Prostitution, Trafficking Kelsey Martin, 23, Boaz, KY - Prostitution Alexis Phelps, 21, Knoxville, TN - Prostitution Shirley Henry, 23, Clinton, TN - Prostitution Stephanie Thomas, 26, Knoxville, TN - Prostitution Crystal Myers, 37, Knoxville, TN - Prostitution
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