Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
‘Porn Pastor’ accused of grooming school boys publishes self-help book
THE Common Ground Church youth leader accused of the serial sexual grooming of his teenage boy congregants has published a book aimed at counselling people in suffering.
It grapples with psychological suffering from a biblical perspective. The 26- year- old youth leader turned Christian self-help author has appeared in court several times since his September arrest on charges of sexual grooming of children and the failure to immediately report sexual offences against children.
Charges relating to the possession and distribution of child pornography are expected to be added to the charge sheet.
Nowhere in his book – published a month after his arrest – is this mentioned.
And while the youth leader does admit that he is suffering, he doesn’t reveal to readers that it relates to the criminal charges he is facing which have rocked the lives of over 60 schoolboys and their families.
“We’ve seen the book,” said a Common Ground father who asked not to be named. “As you can imagine, it’s very difficult for parents of the alleged victims to deal with.
“It’s galling that after operating as an alleged abuser under the guise of being a Christian leader the suspect now presents himself as a Christian author – without disclosing the context of his suffering and the suffering he has caused.”
The book began as the manuscript of a sermon that the “Porn Pastor” preached a few years ago. In a review, a reader writes that the suspect shows compassion for sufferers by counselling them that there’s no quick fix.
The “Porn Pastor” was arrested by members of the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit at Rondebosch Common Ground Church on September 6 following a tip-off from a senior church official whose 14-year-old son had allegedly been groomed.
He provided a full confession which revealed that he had allegedly groomed over 60 teenage boys over two years.
According to police he created several aliases of sexy teenage girls on Instagram and WhatsApp to get his young teenage congregants to send him naked photos of themselves.
Alleged victims also told police how in panic and fear they had sought the suspect’s counsel, not knowing that he was behind the grooming.
He allegedly told some of the boys in his pastoral care to continue supplying naked photos.
Most of the alleged victims are Common Ground congregants but some pupils from schools in the Rondebosch area were also caught up in the pornographic web.
Although the suspect had been a paid employee at Rondebosch Common Ground Church, which he joined as an intern in 2014, he had been working as a youth pastor at Common Ground Constantiaberg in Orpen Road at the time of his arrest.
A University of Cape Town masters graduate in environmental and geographical science, the suspect is also a professional sports photographer well known on the school sports field around Rondebosch and the beaches of Peninsula surfing spots.
Both Common Ground Church and the suspect’s lawyer declined to comment.