California Assemblies of God youth minister busted for child porn

CALIFORNIA
The Raw Story

By David Ferguson
Tuesday, February 18, 2014

A 27-year-old youth minister at Bethel Church, an Assemblies of God congregation in Oakdale, California, was arrested Monday on child pornography charges. According to the Modesto Bee, Tyler Bliss was taken to Stanislaus County jail after an investigation by the Ceres Police High Tech Crimes unit.

Police acted on a tip when they obtained search warrants and raided Bliss’ home and his office at the church, seizing computers and other electronic devices.

Ceres Police spokesperson Carissa Higginbotham told the Bee that it is too early in the investigation to establish whether Bliss was involved of the production of the materials found on the devices, which she said feature sexually exploitive images and video of children under 13.

“We were very concerned because of the access he has to children,” said Higginbotham.

The Bee reported that “Bliss has served in youth ministry at the church since 2009 and oversees junior high, high school and college programs while pursuing a preaching license with the Assemblies of God.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.