MAGA youth pastor charged with coercing minors to have sex with him

A MAGA youth pastor favored by the evangelist Jerry Falwell Jr has been charged with coercing minors to have sex with him and send him pornographic images.

Zachary Radcliff, 29, of Saline in Michigan, is accused of a string of offenses relating to sexually abusive activity going back as far as 2011, according to state police.

The alleged victims were aged between 12 and 17 at the time, Michigan State Police said.

Radcliff was the music and youth pastor at Oakwood Church in Ypsilanti, Washtenaw County, and once performed a song he wrote titled “I’ll Stand ”at Liberty University in 2019 during the Conservative Political Action Conference.

Falwell, who was president of the school at the time, praised Radcliff’s performance at the time. “I believe this song will become to this generation what Lee Greenwood’s ‘God Bless the USA’ was during the Reagan years,” Falwell said in a press release, which has since been deleted but is visible on a web archive platform.

Radcliff was charged over the weekend with four counts of child abuse and one count of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree. He was arraigned on several other charges, including criminal sexual conduct and charges relating to child sexually abusive material, police said in a statement.

Police said they were first made aware of Radcliff’s alleged crimes on October 2 and that they had found multiple victims.

“The investigation started on October 2, 2024, when information was received that Mr. Radcliff solicited child sexually abusive material from a minor,” the statement said. “Search warrants were executed at both Mr. Radcliff’s office and residence. The investigation has identified multiple victims.”

Oakwood Church said in a public statement that it was “not aware of the full extent” of Radcliff’s alleged crimes but has “heard other stories.” The pastor was terminated from his job, effective without pay, on October 12.

“The information that we received was shocking,” the church said. “We were told that Zachary had been soliciting inappropriate photos and possibly videos from teens. We have also heard other stories. This information has ripped our hearts apart.”

“The safety and protection of the individuals in our church is what is paramount to us,” it added. “We are devoted to doing what we can for the care of the victims of these crimes.”

Radcliff’s current Instagram profile picture is of Donald Trump following the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. Radcliff also shared an image posing in a MAGA baseball cap and wearing a Trump t-shirt.

Radcliff is due to appear in court for a probable cause hearing on October 31.