This is one of those times when starting with the background context is more appropriate than a traditional lede that expands on the headline: Indiana Lt Gov Micah Beckwith is a pastor and a hardcore Evangelical douchebag whose greatest hits include saying the January 6th insurrectionists were “sent by God,” vowing to fire any staffer who uses pronouns in their email, and – this last one’s a clue – getting over 2,000 books banned from the Hamilton East Library’s young adult section for “depictions of sex, violence and repeated profanity” – or “pornographic” in MAGA hyperbole.
Beckwith’s boss is not Gov Mike Braun. Not even if they liked or respected each other, which they don’t. His true overlord is Nathan Peternel, founding pastor of the “Life Church” chain of MAGAchurches, who elevated Beckwith to lead pastor of the Noblesville campus of the Life Church, the pulpit from which Beckwith continues to preach his fire and brimstone while serving as Lt Gov.
Oh and they still podcast together on a show called “Jesus, Sex, and Politics.” Why “sex” has to be in the name says enough, but pornography and child exploitation are regular topics. Also a hint here.
Now for the lede: The Indiana Citizen reports Peternel’s 24 year-old son Jonathan is facing one count of child exploitation and three counts of possession of child sex abuse material after a search warrant was executed on the family home last month and this shit is too fucking revolting and twisted to type so just pasting in the press release from the Fishers Police Department:
The CyberTip submitted by Snapchat showed five files of suspected Child Sex Abuse Material involving prepubescent children. Detectives with the Hamilton County Metro ICAC Task Force served a search warrant on the suspect’s Snapchat account, where more Child Sex Abuse Material was discovered, along with evidence that Peternel was disseminating videos to other users.
A search warrant was conducted on Peternel’s residence, where further evidence was located showing that he possessed over 200 files of Child Sex Abuse Material. Some of this included sadomasochistic child abuse, children that appeared to be drugged or intoxicated while being abused, violent child molestation, and photorealistic AI-generated photos of nude pregnant toddlers.
Fuuuuuuuuu-uuuuuck. They even called the Snapchat group “Diddy’s Disciples” because sex trafficking is hilarious when you’re a 24 year-old MAGAmerican bro whose dad is a wealthy pastor.
The church itself felt compelled to respond in a statement linked prominently on the homepage:
We are deeply saddened by the recent allegations involving Pastor Nathan’s adult son and want to express our heartfelt sympathy to all those affected. Our prayers are with Pastor Nathan and his family during this incredibly difficult time, as well as with the families and individuals impacted by these events.
Our hearts remain heavy for all who are suffering. As we walk through this challenging moment, we are committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, accountability, and transparency.
We hold fast to our mission as a church to offer hope, bring healing, and stand firm in our faith, seeking justice while shining a light in the darkness. May God’s healing grace surround all those affected by this crisis, guiding us to become a place of refuge, compassion, and restoration.
We remain devoted to the truth, and as we continue to navigate this, we ask for your ongoing prayers, understanding, and support. We will provide updates as we learn more. Thank you for your patience and your prayers during this time of uncertainty.
Notice the complete lack of “innocent until proven guilty” in that stale sugar wafer attributed to “Life Church Leadership.” Not even these people can muster that up here when confronted with something as sickeningly specific and idiosyncratic as “photorealistic AI-generated photos of nude pregnant toddlers.” Fucking Soros’s fake news manipulators are creative but they didn’t come up with that and plant it on Little Jonny’s phone using a Venezuelan supercomputer with Hugo Chavez’s uploaded mind. The Satan worshippers in the Deep State didn’t do this. It was all Jonny.
Still that was more than Beckwith’s office would say when asked to comment on Peternel Jr’s sick fuckery. “The lieutenant governor is unable to comment on this pending case until he learns more information,” said Jeff Boggs, who the Citizen notes is Beckwith’s new communications director.
The old communications director resigned in August amid a criminal investigation into Beckwith’s office over a deepfake porn video of a Republican state lawmaker’s wife that had been at the very least viewed by several of the Lt Governor/pastor’s staffers and possibly even generated by one of them. At least they probably didn’t prompt the AI to turn her into a pregnant toddler. Probably.