Palmetto church in shock after pastor arrested on child porn charges

MANATEE COUNTY (WFLA) – Jonathan Elwing, 43, remains in the Manatee County Jail following his arrest last week.

The local pastor was accused of using cryptocurrency to buy child pornography.

His arrest affidavit said the children depicted in the images ranged in age from 4-12 years of age.

“We learned about it on Thursday of last week, and by Friday, we had executed search warrants at the pastor’s home,” said Manatee County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Randy Warren. “As part of the investigation, they also went to the church, but they found enough at his home by locating sexually explicit photos involving children that were on his phone, four of them. That is what he’s charged with at this point.

“Detectives have got to do some more work here. There are more devices for us to go through, there are more things for us to really look at. There will be further investigation and because of that, there could be additional charges.”

Elwing was a pastor at Palm View First First Baptist Church for the last few years, according to church leaders. He resigned from his position as senior pastor before his arrest on Friday.

The chairman of the deacons at the church said the search for a new head pastor will soon be getting underway. They are in the process of forming a committee to begin that search.

“We are under control, but quite in shock,” Deacon Larry Bianchi said. “Personally, I keep thinking it is a really bad dream, and I am going to wake up from it, but unfortunately, this happens in society. It happens more often than not in places where children can be seen.. There’s a lot of children in church. It is a bad, bad, bad situation my preacher has gotten himself into, but we are no longer associated with him. It is hard to say that, but we are no longer associated with him and we are going to have to go forward from there.”

The church leaders said they conducted background checks before hiring Elwing, and he moved to the Palmetto area after working as a pastor in the Florida Keys.

“Everybody is tempted and sometimes we give into that temptation and now we have to deal with the aftermath of it,” Bianco said. “I hope and pray to God that we react correctly, we keep Palm View strong in the neighborhood, and people might come to worship there if they choose. That is my want, and that is the want of the congregation of Palm View Baptist Church.”

Authorities said the investigation is still ongoing.

“We have to continue this investigation as far as we can to make sure that there are not other crimes that have been committed,” Warren said. “We are hoping that there are not any victims that we don’t know about, but that is why we all always encourage people. If there was something that happened that was misconduct that we need to know about, not to hesitate. It is tough, but they have to come and call us and our detectives will look into it.”

Anyone with information about potential crimes involving Elwing is asked to contact the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office at (941) 747-3011, or to remain anonymous and to be eligible for a cash reward, contact Manatee County Crime Stoppers at (866) 634-8477 (TIPS) or online at www.ManateeCrimeStoppers.com.

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