Author: Lois

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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This is a brief initial post on the CSA charge against former United Pentecostal Church minister Kelsey Carlen-St-Clair Cook, born March 22, 1992, of Michigan. This is case 2024-0000001014-FC in the 37th Circuit Court of Calhoun County, MI. Her parents are Gary and Carol Cook, and Gary is pastor of the Apostolic Church of Flat Rock, Michigan, a legally affiliated UPCI church.

Kelsey Cook was very involved in the Apostolic Church of Flat Rock, as well as in mission trips in the UPCI through the Apostolic Youth Corps. Her mission trips go back to at least 2012. She gained notoriety by raising thousands of dollars for their Sheaves For Christ program. She also participated in Bible quizzing and has attended NAYC events.

Kelsey first appeared in the 2021 UPCI Directory with a local license, which is indicative of being licensed in 2020. It then showed her holding general license in the 2022 edition and is last seen in the 2023 UPCI Directory, still with a general license.

The crime she was charged with happened prior to her becoming licensed. (The court record gives a date of on or about June 2017.) Unfortunately, the wording in the question that was asked on the application was, “Have you ever been convicted of or pleaded guilty to child abuse or a crime involving actual or attempted sexual molestation of a minor? If yes, please explain.” As she had not yet been charged with, or convicted of her crime, she could honestly answer no.

I have been watching this case since I first learned of it back in late April 2024. I made a brief mention of it in a post from April of last year. Since that time, several people have inquired as to the status of the case and I am happy to report that on the morning of March 6, 2026, on the fourth day of trial, Kelsey Cook was found guilty of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person under 13 (750.520B2B). She was represented by Shannon Marie Smith.

A previous trial was held back in December 2025, but ended in a mistrial before its conclusion.

Sentencing is scheduled for April 27, 2026, where she should at least receive the mandatory sentence of 25 years, with lifetime monitoring and a tier III sex offender registration requirement.

Kelsey Cook’s $1,000 surety bond, posted on April 8, 2024, was revoked and she was taken into custody after the verdict. She is being held at the Calhoun County Correctional Facility. Attached is the notice on Vinelink.

More will be shared in a subsequent post. Our hearts go out to the survivor and her family.

See also Part 2 and Part 3, two posts with UPCI pastor Austin Hopper’s statement.

I originally posted about this on March 6, 2026 on our Facebook Page.

ADDED May 15, 2026:  Sentencing scheduled for for April 27 was rescheduled for May 11, 2026 at the request of Kelsey’s attorney. She was sentenced to a minimum of 25 years in prison, with a maximum of 60 years, and was credited with 70 days spent in jail. She owes $198.00 in costs and fees. On May 15, 2026, Kelsey Cook was transferred from the Calhoun County Correctional Facility to the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti. This is the only facility in Michigan which houses females. She also now appears in the sex offender registry.

ADDED June 18, 2026: As expected, the case was appealed on June 11, 2026. The appeal, along with some other information, will be covered in a separate post found here.

You will find a complete list of articles in this series by clicking here.

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This is not United Pentecostal Church related but is included here due to the seriousness of the charges.

Samantha Jo Scoggins of Port Arthur, Texas was indicted by a Grand Jury on February 11, 2026 on charges of continuous sexual abuse of a child, a first degree felony. The allegations involve the sexual assaults of a boy younger than 15, who was homeschooled in her home starting in November 2024. The abuse started in July 2025 and continued for five months. This is from Jefferson County.

Apparently there is evidence in the form of photos and thousands of text messages.

The boy said he had met Scoggins at church. Apparently Samantha Scoggins has been active at Faith Tabernacle Apostolic Church, located in Port Arthur, where Kaleb Rule is pastor. It appears to be an independent Oneness Pentecostal church.

I have attached a screenshot from Faith Tabernacle Apostolic Church’s Facebook events page, which shows that she has been involved there in their Greater Purpose program and may have been involved in other ways.

We mention the church so that parents may be aware and check to make sure that if their child has had contact with Scoggins through the church, that they will talk with them to be sure their child was not harmed. All too often cases such as this have more than one victim. We are not alleging any wrongdoing by the church.

At this time, I cannot promise to regularly share updates on this case.

I originally posted about this on February 16, 2026 on our Facebook Page.

You will find a complete list of articles in this series by clicking here.

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More controversy has been brewing at a United Pentecostal Church in Ontario, Canada.

You may want to read our posts on United Pentecostal Pastor Audley Castro Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

In December 2025, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) revoked the license of Donald Newton Mason, an insurance agent who allegedly misappropriated more than $700,000 from two seniors.

The seniors were members of the Apostolic Pentecostal Church (APC) Of Pickering in Ontario, with one of them having been the church secretary for many years. The two church members gave Mason $307,000 and $400,000. One was in the early stages of dementia. A GFM for one of the seniors has so far raised $3,760.

A media release stated Donald Mason “persuaded two vulnerable consumers to provide him with funds, allegedly for investment and failed to repay or account for the money they loaned him. This conduct affords reasonable grounds to believe that Mason is not suitable to be licensed.” In addition, he failed to respond to the FRSA’s inquiries.

Donald Newton Mason volunteered at APC as a lay minister. Attached is a screenshot showing two old sermons he preached at the church. It has been alleged that he is still active in the church, helping with Bible quizzing, and there are people who are upset that nothing has been done to call him out. It is also alleged that Samuel Ofe-Brobe, the interim leader of Apostolic Pentecostal Church of Pickering, has said he would handle it and yet nothing has happened.

There has been a fair amount of controversy over how Samuel Ofe-Brobe has handled situations since the former pastor, Audley Castro, resigned amidst amidst allegations of sexual misconduct.  I have not had time to report on that, but hope to sometime in the future.

I originally posted about this on February 16, 2026 on our Facebook Page.

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