TOLEDO, Ohio β Three pastors worked together to entice teen girls to have sex, often for money, and shared photos and videos of the girls, federal prosecutors said. One founded his own church and built a large following in Toledo. The other two oversaw congregations with a few dozen people that met in rented spaces. All three pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges that include child sex trafficking and sexual exploitation of children.
Each could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted. Federal court documents describe how one of the pastors had sex with a girl in his church office and how another used his phone to record himself having sex with a teen. While the men β Cordell Jenkins, 47, Anthony Haynes, 38, and Kenneth Butler, 37 β all operated their own churches, federal prosecutors said the investigation was connected and remains ongoing.
Haynes and Jenkins were arrested in April while Butler, who most recently ran a small church where his wife was the co-pastor, was arrested in October.
Lorin Zaner, an attorney for Jenkins, said he has not seen all of the evidence prosecutors have gathered so it was too early to say what will happen next. Prosecutors say Haynes first began pursuing and grooming a year-old girl in and that he gave her money for sex.
He also warned her not to say anything because it would ruin his family and his church, according to court documents. Haynes later introduced the girl to Jenkins and shared pornographic photos and videos that he had recorded, prosecutors said.
