This article is part of “Pastors and Prey,” a series investigating sex abuse allegations in the Assemblies of God.
Thomas Pinkerton Jr. used to tell children in his youth group in Maryland that it was normal for a pastor to kiss boys on the lips, because that’s how Jesus greeted his disciples, according to an arrest warrant made public last week.
Kissing was just the beginning, several men from Pinkerton’s former youth group told police.
Pinkerton, 52, a youth minister known as Pastor Tommy, is being held without bond following accusations that he sexually abused six teens from 2006 to 2010 while working at Central Christian Church, an Assemblies of God church in Baltimore County. He was extradited from his home state of Georgia to Maryland last Wednesday to face 24 felony and misdemeanor counts in Baltimore County. His attorney, Justin Hollimon, said he pleaded not guilty.
An arrest warrant said the alleged abuse included inappropriate touching and kissing of six teenagers in Maryland, who ranged in age from 13 to 19. The warrant said the alleged abuse happened at the church and at Pinkerton’s former home in Maryland. A seventh man reported abuse by Pinkerton in Georgia, according to the warrant, and that report was referred to authorities there, officials in Baltimore County said.
Detectives believe there may be more victims and have asked anyone with information to come forward.
Pinkerton, who has worked as a traveling evangelist in recent years, was “completely shocked” by the charges, his attorney said Monday.
“He is a pastor. He gave his life to the community, worked for the community,” Hollimon said, adding that he filed a motion Monday morning seeking another bond hearing for Pinkerton after a judge denied his release last week. “He’s anxiously waiting his day in court.”
Pinkerton’s arrest comes as the Assemblies of God, the world’s largest Pentecostal denomination, with nearly 3 million members across 13,000 churches in the United States, is grappling with a string of child sex abuse allegations.
As part of an ongoing investigation into the denomination’s handling of abuse claims, NBC News published an investigation last week based on interviews, emails, court filings and police reports that examined how an Assemblies of God college ministry guided hundreds of students to the home of Daniel Savala, a convicted sex offender lauded by some as “the holiest man alive.” Days later, Assemblies of God leaders addressed the issue of sex abuse in the denomination during a biennial gathering in Orlando, defending their handling of the Savala case while also pledging to make changes to prevent similar abuses in the future.
Do you have a story to share about the Assemblies of God’s handling of sex abuse allegations? Email reporter Mike Hixenbaugh.
According to Pinkerton’s arrest warrant, detectives started investigating him after the seven men came forward last fall. The men alleged that when they were in their teens, Pinkerton would give them massages and rub their penises; several said Pinkerton would greet them with what he referred to as a “heavenly kiss” or “brotherly kiss” on the lips, likening this to Jesus. The men said Pinkerton called them his “favorites” and referred to himself as a “spiritual father” to them.
Assemblies of God officials distanced themselves from Pinkerton on Monday, telling NBC News that, although Pinkerton worked at an Assemblies of God church, he was never formally credentialed as a minister with the denomination.
“We are so saddened to hear of this report, and are deeply concerned whenever reports like this come out,” said Benjamin Rainey Jr., secretary-treasurer of the Assemblies of God regional office that oversees the three-state region that includes Maryland.
Pinkerton’s former church in Maryland did not return a phone call Monday. In a statement posted last week on its website, Central Christian said Pinkerton served on its staff more than 15 years ago and hasn’t been affiliated with the church since he left to start his own ministry. It also said that since the alleged abuse was reported to law enforcement, additional individuals “have come forward with similar accounts,” including some in other states.
“There is absolutely no place for abuse — ever — in the church,” Central Christian’s lead pastor, Larry Kirk, said in the statement.
In the years since the alleged abuse occurred, Pinkerton has preached in at least six different states, NBC News found, and according to his ministry website, he has evangelized in South America, Europe and Asia.
Pinkerton’s attorney said Monday that his client was not facing charges in any state other than Maryland.
One church where he preached, the New Chapel in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which is not an Assemblies of God church, posted on its website over the weekend that it had cut ties with Pinkerton before he was arrested.
“We were heartbroken to hear of these serious allegations that occurred in Baltimore, Maryland nearly 20 years ago, and communicated the situation to our church family after severing all ties with the accused several months back. Our prayers and continued cooperation are toward justice for the victims,” New Chapel’s statement said.
Authorities in Maryland and Georgia said Baltimore County police obtained an arrest warrant in late June for Pinkerton. The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia said it then arrested him at a traffic stop in July before he was extradited to Maryland last week.
Pinkerton has a preliminary court hearing scheduled for Sept. 5.
