Documentary record Bound by Fear
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Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Evangelical, Pentecostal, and independent Jackson, Tennessee, USA · 2026

United States: Jackson, Tennessee youth pastor sentenced for sexual relationship with a 17-year-old congregant

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

youth pastor at Fellowship Bible Church, Jackson, Tennessee

Organization

Fellowship Bible Church, Jackson, Tennessee

Spiritual nexus

A youth pastor's standing and access within his own congregation were the channel through which a sustained sexual relationship with a 17-year-old member was formed and continued across multiple counties.

  • Pastoral or clerical authority

Evidence structure

Proceedings

  1. Date in cited record · conviction and sentence

    Madison County and Henderson County, Tennessee — circuit courts. Ryan McElrath, 40, youth pastor at Fellowship Bible Church from 2021 until his June 2024 arrest, was sentenced by Judge Kyle Atkins to 12 years on the Madison County indictment and 12 years on the Henderson County indictment, served consecutively for an effective 24-year sentence at 100%. He separately faced federal charges of coercion and enticement of a minor for using text messaging to communicate with the victim.

Documented coercion mechanisms

  • a youth pastor's ongoing access to and trust with a teenage congregant, exploited through sustained text communication and travel across three counties to continue the relationship

Primary record

Sources

press press report The Roys Report.

Sentence structure, counties, judge.

press press report Talk-N West TN.

Church affiliation and dates of employment.

Related record

Related cases · Christian institutions & contexts

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