A youth pastor at a Pentecostal church in Hustonville, Kentucky, was arrested Monday after confessing to sexual contact with a 17-year-old female in the congregation.
Jason Coulter, 48, told Kentucky State Police he met the victim and exchanged nude photos via the Snapchat app, according to a report by WLEX-TV, Ch. 18, an NBC affiliate in Lexington. The two knew each other through Green River Pentecostal Church, located roughly 40 miles southwest of Lexington.
The news report stated Coulter, whose age was not immediately known, also confessed to sharing sexual fantasies with the teen over Snapchat. He said the pair had sexual contact in April at Veterans Park in Mercer County, Kentucky, and then again in May in McKinney, Kentucky, near a Dollar Store. On the second occasion, Coulter said the female met him at a funeral home where he worked.
Police said they spoke with the victim on August 17, and she confirmed Coulter’s account, according to the news report.
Coulter kept some of the images of the teen and told investigators he’d sometimes requested photos from her, WLEX-TV said. The report said he is charged “with third-degree sodomy; possession of matter showing a sexual performance by a minor; promoting a sexual performance by a minor; and procuring or promoting the use of a minor by electronic means.”
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The Kentucky State Police unit that covers the area Tuesday evening confirmed the details of Coulter’s confession and arrest in response to a Roys Report (RR) inquiry. They said Coulter remains in the Pulaski County Detention Center and that no bond hearing has been set.
Although Coulter was identified as a “youth pastor” for the Green River Pentecostal Church, the congregation’s website has little reference to him. There is only a passing comment on the church’s history page saying “Brother Rick Naylor,” the church’s pastor since 1995, “has been assisted, and still is assisted by … High School Youth Pastors, Brother Jason and Sister Heather Coulter.” The page also listed Coulter as “Minister of Music,” although the church’s music ministry page does not.
Reached by telephone, Naylor told RR Coulter “resigned last week” and that the congregation had “no comment” on the charges.
Asked if the church was aware of Coulter’s alleged offenses, Naylor said, “The inference we would close our eyes to something like that is insulting and I have no further comment.”
The pastor then ended the phone call.
This story was updated when the Kentucky State Police responded Tuesday evening to RR’s inquiry.
Mark A. Kellner is a reporter based in Mesquite, Nevada. He most recently covered statewide elections for the New York Post and was for three years the Faith & Family Reporter for The Washington Times. Mark is a graduate of the University of the Cumberlands and also attended Boston University’s College of Communication.
4 Responses
“Asked if the church was aware of Coulter’s alleged offenses, Naylor said, “The inference we would close our eyes to something like that is insulting and I have no further comment.”
so, did the church close its eyes to something like that? I note that the question was not answered.
Was coulter married?
Excerpt from the article: “There is only a passing comment on the church’s history page saying “Brother Rick Naylor,” the church’s pastor since 1995, “has been assisted, and still is assisted by … High School Youth Pastors, Brother Jason and Sister Heather Coulter.”” That sounds to me like Brother Jason Coulter is/was married to Sister Heather Coulter.
This man did something remarkable: He called the Kentucky State Policy and self reported his crime. That is a crucial detail that TRR’s story obscures by using the phrase “confessed to.” Confessed to whom? And why? In the WLEX story linked in this TRR report, it is made clear that Coulter, the perpetrator, himself, initiated the report to police. Could that explain the pastor’s caustic quote at the end of the TRR story? Did Coulter confess to the pastor, who in turn instructed him to call the police? Who knows? After reading this article and the WLEX story, I am left wondering what means did the Holy Spirit use to convince this perpetrator to self report? Has anyone heard of this sort of self-reporting happening before? I haven’t. That’s a whole story in itself, in my humble opinion.
The pastor appears to make a show of indignation at the question. This despite living in a country and practicing a religion with a strong history of such questions being completely valid.
As far as holy spirits go, if only his holy spirit could have exhibited better timing, it could have intervened before the grooming or the rapes occurred. Clearly God’s ways are different. Not better. Most humans would have intervened at some point if they’d known. Different.