GREENVILLE (SC)
WHNS Fox Carolina [Greenville, SC]
February 13, 2026
By Amanda Shaw and Catie Bussmann
Kathleen Chorbajian faces dozens of charges alongside her husband Myron
A judge has decided to grant bond for a woman facing dozens of charges of child abuse from the 1980s.
Kathleen Chorbajian and her husband Myron were both charged in May of last year. Myron Chorbajian was the pastor for First Southern Methodist Church in Greenville before he was arrested.
The couple faces more than 90 charges combined over accusations they abused their children in the 1980s. Their warrants lay out allegations that investigators say Myron Chorbajian sexually abused several of the children and forced a child to search dumpsters and eat rotten food. He’s also accused of forcing a child to sleep in a trashcan, paddling a child 50 times and killing pets in front of the children.
Investigators say Kathleen Chorbajian knew of the abuse and failed to intervene or report it.
Defense argues community ties
Kathleen Chorbajian filed a new request for bond. Her defense argued the request before a judge, saying the 71-year-old is not a flight risk because she has deep ties to the community. They also said she has no prior record.
“Kathy is destitute, your honor,” the attorney said. “She’s on Social Security benefits.”
The attorney said Chorbajian’s home has been broken into repeatedly while she has been in jail for over 200 days since her arrest.
The defense also argued that their grandchildren were allowed to visit for extended periods of time and that the children trusted them enough to leave their children in their care.
“If Kathy and Myron were as bad as they say, why would they ever let their children stay with them, unsupervised, overnight? I think that’s very important,” the defense said. “I would just say, Your Honor, that this case is not as the state has advertised.”
State argues danger to community
The state pushed back against the defense’s argument that Kathleen Chorbajian isn’t a danger. They said this case involves not only physical abuse but also spiritual abuse, with the couple manipulating their faith to further harm their children.
“This case is essentially about the weaponization of Christianity to justify the abuse of children,” the state’s attorney said. “The time the abuse occurred, these victims were small children in foster care. They had nowhere else to go. These sadistic acts of abuse that were justified by religion against some of the most vulnerable members of our society, I don’t know a situation where someone could present a more clearly present danger to the community.”
The judge agreed she’s not a flight risk but said he needed more time to evaluate whether she’s a danger to the community.
He later decided to grant her a $120,000 surety bond with the following conditions:
- no contact with victims
- no contact with anyone under the age of 18
- no contact with her husband/codefendant in this case
She will be under house arrest with GPS monitoring and may leave home for medical, legal and religious reasons, according to the judge.