Missouri “Apostle” Accused of Sexual Assault by Multiple Minor Victims
Pastor Joe Campbell of Morningside Church, the ecclesiastical arm of Jim Bakker’s Morningside Ministries in Blue Eye, MO, has been accused of sexually abusing at least four women, according to recent police reports filed in Tulsa, Oklahoma. According to recent reports at the Wartburg Watch (whose reporting is linked in the endnotes), Campbell has been accused of sexually abusing women when they were in their teens.
Note: Graphic descriptions of sex abuse follow. Reader discretion advised.
According to his bio, Campbell has been in “full-time apostolic ministry for over five decades,” is “gifted in a prophetic anointing of visions and dreams,” and has helped start “hundreds of churches and ministries worldwide, impacting communities and changing hearts back to the Father.”
He’s also been accused by at least five women and one man of either sexual abuse, molestation, or completely inappropriate sexual behavior going back 30 years.
Campbell was previously a minister with the Assemblies of God, serving as a pastor at Eastland Assembly of God church in Tulsa, OK, and later at Versailles Assembly of God in Missouri.
At Eastland, he met a 14-year-old Cheryl Almond, who helped out in the children’s program.
She reported that he began giving her attention and engaging in unnecessary touches, such as touching her hand, her back, or even briefly and “playfully,” putting his arms around her waist. Eventually, he started touching other parts of her body, culminating in her being fondled and digitally penetrated, as well as him using his tongue on her. Soon after, she cut off contact with Campbell.
Wartburg Watch notes:
Years later, she would confide in one person who was a spiritual mentor. When she said something, the response of this person was: You were molested by him, too?
When Cheryl asked her to clarify, she told her that there had been a story of “several children who Joe had molested.
One of these women is Kerri Jackson. She alleges she was sexually abused while also attending Eastland and that he started grooming her and getting physical when she was in the fifth grade:
Kerri was at the church helping to prepare for an event. Joe asked her to go with him to his house to get something. When they got there, he tried to touch her intimately. She ran into the hall closet, and he came in after her. He said he had kissed other girls in church to make her feel more at ease. This became a regular occurrence with Kerri. Joe molested her at the church, in the car, and at his home. This went on for approximately 3 years.
His molestation included exploring with his tongue and fingers and, finally, full penetration. The rape occurred during a lock-in at his home in his garage. While other girls were locked outside of the garage, they were under the impression that Joe and Kerri were working on a haunted house.
These incidents occurred during Campbell’s second stint at the church. Despite Campbell being previously removed from Eastland for his transgressions, he was later asked to return, and it was during this return time that Kerri was molested.
After the head pastor moved on and new leadership came in, a friend of Kerri’s told them what happened, and they believed her, resulting in an ecclesiastical Assemblies of God trial. Wartburg recounts:
Kerri went to the AOG in Springfield to testify about what happened. Approximately 30 men were sitting around a U-shaped table. Joe and Becky Campbell, along with Becky’s father, were present. The AOG ministers from the district that were at the table questioning Kerri basically called her a liar because she was unable to describe details about his penis or naked body.
Despite holding a church trial to see if this teenage girl really was abused, the police were not contacted and Campbell subsequently left Eastland AOG in Oklahoma for Versailles AOG in Missouri.
It was at Versailles AOG that Campbell reportedly began to abuse “Kim” (pseudonym). Still in her teens, Kim used to help in the puppet ministry in Eastland. When Campbell asked her to come down to his new church in Versailles for a bit and help them with their budding Vacation Bible School, her parents let her go, reportedly unaware of the true reason he had moved on from their congregation.
Kim alleges he immediately began grooming her, asking her sexual questions in the car, and engaging in physical touch once they arrived. Soon after, Campbell molested her, prompting her to call her parents to come to pick her up. Wartburg describes:
She was sitting on a couch, about to eat a peppermint candy in her hand. Joe came over to the sofa and started playing with her hair. He then began to rub up and down her thighs. Then he put his hands under her bra and then under her panties. As she was shaking, he digitally penetrated her. She was still clutching her candy. She jumped up, called her parents, and said she wanted to come home. She said that at the moment, she was “totally losing it.”
Joe spoke to her parents and told them she was “homesick.” When he brought her to the car, he chided her for “causing trouble.” He claimed they had been her “hosts,” and now he needed to spend money to fly her home. He appeared very angry with her.
Yet it was Campbell’s reported abuse of Phaedra Creed that led to his downfall at Versailles AOG.
According to reports, Phaedra was in her teens and living with her grandparents when she came to live with Campbell in a foster-type relationship. Once settled in, he would shower her with physical affection and touch, including holding hands in front of his wife, Becky, who allegedly said nothing about it. This constant ramping up of physical intimacy led to molestation and, ultimately, sexual intercourse.
Phaedra eventually told the youth pastor’s wife. She, in turn, told the police. Campbell being arrested, charged, and put on trial. Yet the case was eventually dismissed after the teenager reportedly was unable to handle the stress of testifying with Joe Campbell and wife Becky in the courtroom, church members attending in support of Campbell, and bullying from peers.
While he was free from punishment by the secular courts, the ecclesiastical courts were another matter. The Assemblies of God in Springfield held another church trial, which resulted in Campbell being found guilty and permanently removed from the AOG.
A fifth woman, Sarah, alleges that while she was never physically molested while visiting Campbell’s home in her teens, she was shown graphic pornography (frequently by Becky Campbell), resulting in years of emotional trauma. Additional alleged victims describe the Campbells showing pornography at their house according to Wartburg’s reporting, including a male minor victim.
In response to the testimony from these five women, Wartburg Watch contacted the AOG’s Southern Missouri Network and spoke to its superintendent, Pastor Don Miller. They asked about the circumstances of these molestations while stressing the “traumatic nature of the two internal AG trials involving Kerri Jackson and Phaedra Creed” and the lack of sex abuse reporting. Miller released a statement:
We are heartbroken to hear allegations related to Joe Campbell and any pain his reported actions caused. Our concern and prayers go out to all who have been affected by these circumstances. When allegations toward a minister arise, we take those matters very seriously and we have a well-established process to address them. In the case of Mr. Campbell, the Southern Missouri District leadership acted upon the evidence presented to them regarding the minister. He was reported to law enforcement, dismissed as a minister with the Assemblies of God, and is barred from ever again being credentialed with the Assemblies of God.
We pray that those who experienced trauma from the actions of Mr. Campbell can find healing and closure.
Have a blessed day.
Pastor Don Miller
Superintendent
Commenting on the statement, Warburg noted that while they are grateful Miller said he read all the stories, used Joe Campbell’s name in the statement, and reported Phaedra’s assault to law enforcement, they were disappointed the denominational network head sidestepped the issue of their failure to report all these instances to the police, such as the case of Kerri Jackson, and didn’t explain why Campbell was allowed to continue to Versailles despite these allegations, along with a lack of broad communal warning.
Campbell left the Assemblies of God and eventually joined up with Bakker’s church, where he’s been ever since.
After repeated efforts to contact Joe Campbell and Jim Bakker Ministries, with no response, four of the women mentioned in this story met with author, podcaster, and SBC personality Wade Burleson, after which they contacted Tulsa, OK police on December 20th, 2024.
Note: this is a condensed version of these articles:
- “Pastor” Joe Campbell, Who Now Leads Jim Bakker’s Morningside Church, Is Credibly Accused of Molesting a Young Teen He Arranged to Live with His Family
- Pastor Joe Campbell, as well as His Wife Becky, Are Further Credibly Accused of Sexual Abuse By Three More Victims: Kerri, Kim, and Sarah.
- Cheryl Almond Waited Years to Accuse Pastor Joe Campbell of Sexually Abusing Her When She Was 14. Could There Be Many More Victims?
- The Assemblies of God, Southern MO, Botched a Statement on Joe Campbell’s Five Victims. Are Internal Trials Still Ongoing? Still Looking for Joe Campbell and Jim Bakker.
- Jim Bakker and Joe Campbell: It’s a Crime and a Disorder; Not a Simple Transgression.
- Joe Campbell’s Oklahoma Victims Have Filed Police Reports and Jody Kirk Comes Forward and Tells His Story of Abuse by Joe and Becky Campbell.
About Author
Telling women who have been molested to “Have a blessed day”?