TULSA (OK)
Premier Christian News [Crowborough, England]
January 22, 2026
A former intern at one of the largest megachurches in the United States has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material.
Austin Ryder Sewell, 25, was also given a lifetime term of supervised release, ordered to register as a sex offender and required to pay $15,500 in restitution to victims.
Sewell began working as an operations intern at Life.Church’s Midtown Tulsa campus in January 2025. The church told The Roys Report that it only became aware of the charges after his internship had ended.
Authorities said the investigation began after messaging app Kik sent more than 10 cyber tips to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), reporting several videos depicting the sexual abuse of children.
A Kik user later identified as Sewell was found to have shared the videos through multiple accounts and used chats to discuss his sexual interest in children, the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma said in a press release. Investigators recovered 98 videos and 24 images showing minors being sexually abused.
In July 2025, federal agents arrested Sewell at the home he shared with his parents, seizing several electronic devices and discovering multiple AR-15-style rifles in his basement bedroom.
Sewell reportedly told investigators he did not commit the offences for sexual gratification, but “because he was bored due to not having anyone to talk to.”
The case was investigated jointly by Homeland Security Investigations and the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office.