Former United Pentecostal Church minister James Harvey Lawson, born February 16, 1964, was found guilty of several CSA crimes on February 27, 2026.
He was sentenced on March 4, 2026 and will hopefully spend the remainder of his life behind bars. He is the former pastor of the Apostolic Life Church, located at 500 E Washington Street in Kosse, Texas.
His name is found in the 2023 UPCI Directory and not the one before or after it.
This is not my normal article about a sexual abuse case, but I have been swamped with cases to cover and have not had time to look more closely at this one. This article will be updated in the future if time is later found to cover it in more detail. So far in 2026, four former UPCI ministers have been found guilty of sexual crimes.
The following excerpts are from KWTX’s coverage of the case.
“The now former pastor of Apostolic Life Church in Kosse, Texas, on Wednesday was sentenced to life in prison after a jury found him guilty of repeatedly sexually abusing a young relative over the course of several years.
“On Feb. 27, 2026, a Limestone County jury convicted James Lawson, 62, of Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Young Child, Indecency with a Child by Contact, and Indecency with a Child by Exposure.
“…On March 4, 2026, Judge Ward sentenced Lawson to life in prison for Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Young Child. …
“During the trial, jurors heard testimony from the primary victim, who is related to Lawson. She described how, between the ages of 4 and 12, she visited Lawson and his wife in their home.
“She testified that Lawson took her for rides on a four‑wheeler and rubbed her genital area, reached under her shirt and squeezed her breast, touched her genitals while she was in bed and while she sat on his lap under a blanket watching television, and changed clothes in front of her and, on at least one occasion, went skinny dipping with her.
“…During the trial, two of the victim’s sisters testified that Lawson also inappropriately touched them. They said Lawson would them, put lotion on their bodies, and wash their hair even after they were old enough to care for themselves.
“The girls also said Lawson would make them sit on his lap under a blanket while watching television and rubbed their bodies, including their inner thighs near their genital area, making them feel uncomfortable.
“The girls said Lawson touched their breasts under the pretense of ‘checking their bras’ to make sure they were tight.”
I originally posted about this on March 5, 2026 on our Facebook Page.
You will find a complete list of articles in this series by clicking here.
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