A Wisconsin pastor has been arrested after police say he sent intimate photos of a church member’s wife to himself while borrowing the man’s phone during a church meeting, news outlets report.
Gabriel Mills, 41, was a pastor at Journey Church in Kenosha, the city’s police department said in a news release, adding he was taken into custody on Sept 30 and accused of “transferring intimate photographs without permission from the victim’s phone to his own”.
The couple told police Mills had access to the husband’s phone during a Sept 22 meeting at the church because he was helping him download an audio book, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. But while Mills acted as if he was only being helpful, he began digging for private things, found intimate images of the man’s wife and sent them to his phone using the AirDrop feature, investigators said.
At some point after the meeting, the couple discovered the AirDrop app had been accessed several times while Mills had the phone, WJFW reported. They then contacted police. Investigators obtained a warrant to take Mills’ phone on Sept 28, and while searching the device they found explicit photos of the church member’s wife, according to the station.
Mills was fired from Journey Church on Sept 29, the outlet reported.
“This news has come as a great shock to our church and school community,” Journey Church Pastor Kevin Taylor said in a statement, the Journal Sentinel reported. “We hold our leaders to the highest standards of moral conduct, and any violation of these values is deeply troubling. We terminated Gabe’s employment upon learning of the allegations that led to his arrest.”
Mills is facing two counts of capturing an intimate representation without consent – a felony charge, police say. Court records show his bond was set at US$7,500 (RM31,684).
The couple might not be Mills’ first victims, and police are asking anyone who thinks they may have been victimised to contact the Kenosha Police Department.
Kenosha is a roughly 40-mile drive south from Milwaukee. – The Charlotte Observer/Tribune News Service
