Florida pastor accused of committing horrific crimes against 2-year-old child: 'This is a monster'

A Florida pastor is facing more than a dozen felony charges after police allegedly found extremely disturbing materials on his cell phone.

On June 21, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office announced the arrest of 43-year-old Jonathan Elwing, the senior pastor of Palm View Baptist Church in Palmetto, Florida.

'He went into that church professing to be a man of God, but he’s really nothing more than a liar and sexual predator.'

Police said they had received information that Elwing used cryptocurrency to purchase child sex abuse material on the internet, according to the Bradenton Herald. With that information, authorities obtained a search warrant and allegedly discovered sexually explicit images of children on his cell phone. Elwing was subsequently arrested and charged with four counts of possession of child sexual abuse images.

But the disturbing story doesn't end there.

As police continued their investigation — including a forensic search of Elwing's cell phone — police discovered images allegedly showing Elwing sexually abusing a 2-year-old child.

Investigators accused Elwing of using a photo vault app on his phone to hide the shocking material.

As a result, police filed an additional 14 charges against Elwing: two counts of capital sexual battery, six counts of production of child sexual abuse material, and six counts of possession of child sexual abuse material.

"Professing to be a man of God, a pastor, to have all these people in your congregation that trusted in you is sickening to all of us to know what his true intent was and what was he doing behind the scenes," Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells said last Thursday.

Authorities, moreover, said they discovered 10 "covert" cameras in Elwing's possession, two at his home and the rest at the church where he worked. Police said they fear Elwing may have been hiding the cameras inside the church.

The investigation remains ongoing, and police said they could file additional criminal charges against Elwing.

"I can't stress this enough: This is a monster," Sheriff Wells said. "This is a man who went to great lengths to hide his true identity, to use whatever resources he could to feed this deviant behavior that he has.

"I really feel bad for his family — I feel bad for the congregation at Palm View Baptist Church," the sheriff added. "He went into that church professing to be a man of God, but he’s really nothing more than a liar and sexual predator."

Elwing is being held in the Manatee County jail without bond.

Elwing resigned his position as senior pastor at Palm View Baptist Church shortly before his arrest. The congregation of nearly 200 people is vowing to push forward through the difficult time.

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