Megachurch Shuts Down Permanently After Pastor Charged with Seven Child Sex Abuse Felonies
LexCity Church in Lexington, KY, is no more after their former executive pastor, Zachary King, admitted in July to law enforcement that he’d been engaging in a ‘sexual relationship’ with a 15-year-old girl over the last year and a half, prompting the beleaguered congregation to shutter their doors for good.
By ‘sexual relationship’, we mean that the 47-year-old pedophile impastor groomed and sexually abused her repeatedly. According to WHAS11, on August 15, a Fayette County Grand Jury indicted him on the following charges:
- One count of first degree rape.
- One count of first degree sodomy.
- One count of unlawful use of electronic means to induce a minor to engage in a sexual or prohibited activity.
- One count of unlawful transaction with a minor with a victim under 18.
- One count of third degree rape.
- One count of third degree sodomy.
- One count of first degree sexual abuse.
Shortly after the arrest, the church announced that “the leadership team of Lexington City Church has voted to permanently cease our ministry’ on account of “the continued effects of the financial situation our church inherited several years ago and the impact of the ongoing investigation of a former staff member” which has resulted in them losing “the ability to remain financially viable and fulfill our God-given mission.”
Noting that “Our hearts are broken for those who have been hurt and are hurting,” they pledged to “cooperate fully with the ongoing investigation,” while admitting “we feel it is in the best interest of the Kingdom and our community that we discontinue our ministry.”
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A sexual relation with a 15 year old girl does not make someone a “pedophile”.
A sexual relation with a 5 year old girl would do that.
At 15, she is able to marry and bear children.
It is estimated that Mary was around 15 when she gave birth to Jesus Christ.
Ignore their attempts to cleave us apart.
Regardless of definitions, this guy committed a grievous sin and belongs in jail, not a pulpit.
It’s NOT A SIN.
A 15 year old is a woman by all biological definitions.
Whether or not he should be at the pulpit should be determined by if he lives by the word of God, and teaches the same.
Was there something he did in violation of scripture?
Touch my 15 year old and you and yours would immediately be sent to your God for Judgement, old testament style. Welcome to the 21st century.
You should want her to find a husband able to care for her and provide for her future and family instead of trying to play the silly role you’ve been programmed to play in order to keep your family as small and powerless as possible.
A sexual relationship with a girl of any age who wasn’t his wife certainly is a sin.
Actually, it’s NOT a “sin”, there are, however, laws to govern what is done.
My understanding of what is said in scripture is she would become his wife.
If anyone disagrees with my scriptural interpretation…PLEASE, do show me, by book, chapter, and verse, exactly where I’m wrong.
I’ve noticed a lot of “role playing” among the commenters here. You would hope to find people stronger in the word of God, but…oh well, I suppose. For my people perish but for lack of knowledge.
Let me ask you this. Have you ever heard of a “quinceañera”?
Probably not. According to Mexican tradition, a girl that turns 15 is given a party called a “quinceañera”, which is a party to celebrate her passing into WOMANHOOD.
This…odd ball programmed mentality that little girls somehow magically sexually matures at 18 (or 21, lol) because some government slavery edicteer swipes a pen and passes a statute of ownership declaring their slaves may not mate until their 18th birthday is just that…an oddball programmed mentality with no basis in physical reality.
The question is this…are you saying you condemn all Mexicans as immoral people because they believe a “girl” becomes a woman at 15?
The report says he’d been have relations with a 15 y.o. girl over 1 & 1/2 years. So how old would that make the girl when it all started? **13 YEARS OLD!!!** not 15.
And in 1.5 years, certainly if she was an unwilling participant, I’m sure an opportunity to come forward should have presented itself LONG ago.
You are a pedophile. You have sex with anyone outside of marraige and you are a fornicator. You need repentance and now or you will face the creator with your bogus doctrine
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He is not a pedophile if she is 15, but he should be put down and sent to his god for judgement for what he did.
It’s not my 15 year old, so I will stay out of it, but if it was, the state would not be able to protect him like they protected Epstein for so many years.
It’s too bad you support outright murder for something that isn’t actually a crime according to scripture. Good thing you’re at least able to play the programmed role you’re supposed to play without realizing you’ve been programmed to play it or by whom.
I have to agree about the 15 year old. Look around you. Most teenage girls dress inappropriately and are highly sexualized. We don’t know just how innocent she is. That being said, another one of these “mega” churches bites the dust and I’m honestly not sad about that. Too many pastors have nothing else in mind except to have a mega church with a mega salary. Churches are having a very hard time finding young Biblically trained young men to serve as pastor of smaller churches.
There are two issues here. The first is that the laws of our land simply do no permit a man to marry a girl that young. While it is acknowledged that from a biological standpoint this girl is old enough to bear children, she is not old enough according to US law to be doing so with this man. The second issue is that even if the laws permitted it, they were not married. This liaison was therefore in violation of the two Commands that Jesus placed in equal importance to each other. A pastor that willingly and knowingly violates the laws of God is disqualified for the office. It’s that simple.