LEXINGTON (KY)
ChurchLeaders.com [Wheaton, IL]
August 16, 2024
By Dale Chamberlain
A former pastor in Lexington, Kentucky, has been indicted by a grand jury with seven felony charges related to his alleged sex crimes against a 15-year-old girl. Zachary King, formerly an executive pastor at LexCity Church, was first arrested in July.
King, 47, reportedly resigned from the church shortly before his arrest, when he was confronted by members of the congregation.
According to the arrest report, King 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.”
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King also 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.
Following King’s arrest in July, King’s attorney requested that his bond be set at $50,000, but the judge set the former pastor’s bond at $250,000.
Attorney General Russell Coleman announced on Aug. 15 that investigations by the Attorney General’s Department of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and Special Prosecutions Unit resulted in a grand jury bringing seven charges against King.
The charges include first degree rape, first degree sodomy, unlawful use of electronic means to induce a minor to engage in a sexual or prohibited activity, unlawful transaction with a minor with a victim under 18, third degree rape, third degree sodomy, and first degree sexual abuse.
Shortly after news of King’s arrest broke, LexCity church announced that it would be closing permanently amid ongoing financial challenges, which had been compounded by the scandal surrounding King.