Documentary record Bound by Fear
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Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Evangelical, Pentecostal, and independent Manatee County, Florida, USA · 2026

United States: former Manatee County senior pastor gets triple life sentence for child rape and abuse material

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

senior pastor of Palm View First Baptist Church, Palmetto, Florida

Organization

Palm View First Baptist Church, Palmetto, Florida

Spiritual nexus

A senior pastor's standing in his own congregation gave him the unsupervised access to a young child that made the abuse possible.

  • Pastoral or clerical authority

Evidence structure

Proceedings

  1. 2026-04-21 · jury verdict and sentence

    Manatee County, Florida — circuit court. Jonathan Edward Elwing, 45, former senior pastor of Palm View First Baptist Church, was found guilty on 12 charges including capital sexual battery, lewd or lascivious molestation, and production/possession of child sexual abuse material, and was sentenced to three consecutive life terms. Investigators found on his phone a video of him abusing a 2-year-old.

Documented coercion mechanisms

  • pastoral standing within the congregation used to secure unsupervised access to a young child

Primary record

Sources

press press report WFLA, Apr 2026.

Verdict, 12 counts, triple life sentence.

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