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Jonathan David Hall (September 20, 2012) |
A youth leader at a Danville church is in jail today after being arrested for allegedly exchanging sexually explicit text messages and pictures with a 15-year-old girl he met through the church.
Jonathan David Hall, 29, a former youth leader at Southland Christian Church’s Danville campus, is charged with unlawful use of electronics to induce a minor to engage in sexual activity. He is being held in the Boyle County Detention Center on a $10,000 cash bond.
Hall was arrested Tuesday night at his home at 626 Denmark Drive after Kentucky State Police executed a search warrant resulting from an undercover investigation by the Internet Crimes Against Children division.
According to a press release, KSP received information from Lexington police after being contacted by the mother of the girl, who had discovered inappropriate text messages and emails sent to her daughter from an unknown person. Further investigation by Lexington police determined the messages likely came from Danville and the case was turned over to KSP.
Police said the girl told detectives she began communicating with the unknown person after he texted her cell phone looking for another girl. The man claimed to be an 18-year-old University of Kentucky student named Zachary Blight Carter. The girl said their conversations via email and text messaging quickly became sexual. She sent the man multiple nude photos of herself at his request and he sent her a nude photo as well, according to the press release.
Further investigation led to Hall’s residence in Danville, where police also found other nude photos of what appear to juvenile girls from at least three other states. The investigation continues and additional charges are pending, police said.
Chris Hahn, lead executive pastor for Southland Christian Church in Lexington, said today that Hall worked at the Danville campus for two years overseeing church activities for middle and high school students. Hahn said Hall no longer is employed by the church but declined to say if he was terminated before his arrest Tuesday.
Hahn declined to comment further on Hall, saying it would be inappropriate because the matter is still under investigation.
