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This is an initial post regarding former United Pentecostal Church pastor Nerrick A. Chung-Ying, Sr., born May 3, 1962, who was the senior pastor of Word of Life Apostolic Center in Rahway, New Jersey. This was a UPCI church, though not legally affiliated. In May of 2019, he was elected as the presbyter of section 2 of the New York Metro District. At the time of the allegations against him, he was the District Secretary of the New York Metro District.

Since sexual abuse allegations were made last year, Nerrick Chung-Ying turned in his license and resigned as pastor. The church has since been sold and a new building was acquired in Laurence Harbor, New Jersey, where two of his sons, Andrew and Nerrick “Chris”, also licensed UPCI ministers, are the pastors. The new church is named Life Church of New Jersey. Andrew’s wife and Nerrick Senior’s wife are also licensed UPCI ministers and are all involved at the new church.

The new church is not found on the UPCI’s church locator, so it is not recognized as a UPCI church at this time. While the new church website, Instagram and Facebook Page are in operation, the old church’s website, Instagram, YouTube channel and Facebook Page were removed by at least September 20, 2025. Since then, around June or July 2026, Andrew’s profile  and Instagram were also removed.

A civil lawsuit was filed by three male victims on November 17, 2025 against Nerrick Chung-Ying, Sr., Janet Chung-Ying, the Word of Life Church, Word of Life Apostolic Center, and some John and Jane Does. It alleges sexual abuse and misconduct, as well as negligence, gross negligence, and malicious and wanton disregard. It is claimed that they were members of the church from 2017 to 2025 and that the abuse occurred during those years.

They state that, “During that five-year period, the Plaintiffs were sent to Pastor Nerrick Chung-Ying and Janet Chung-Ying for church related duties and out-of-church activities, some of which occurred at the Defendants’ residence. Pastor Nerrick Chung-Ying sexually abused the plaintiffs on those days the plaintiffs were sent to see him.”

You will find the initial complaint here, which I have slightly redacted to block out addresses. There are no details given of the alleged abuses. In the links below, you will find additional court records.

In Nerrick’s and the church’s amended response to the complaint filed on December 18, 2025, they mainly denied, claimed to have insufficient information within which to admit or deny allegations, or provided no response as they claimed it called for legal conclusions.

On December 18, 2025, Janet Chung-Ying, Nerrick’s wife, attempted to have the case against her dismissed, but the judge denied her request on January 30, 2026 after briefs had been submitted and oral arguments were made. Over nine pages, the judge spelled out detailed reasons as to why the motion was denied.

Janet Chung-Ying is represented by a different attorney than her husband and the church, though initially they were all represented by the same attorney when the initial response was filed on December 15, 2025. After the denial of the request to dismiss, her attorney submitted an answer and cross-claim to the complaint in February 2026, mainly denying everything.

Court records show that discovery is to be completed by October 11, 2026.

It appears that the plaintiffs have not filed anything since January 27, 2026, which was their response to the motion to dismiss. On May 18, 2026, a lack of prosecution dismissal warning was issued, giving the plaintiffs until July 14, 2026 to proceed or the case will be dismissed without prejudice.

In addition to the civil lawsuit, a criminal case against Nerrick Chung-Ying was also filed.

More will be posted in the future.

I originally posted about this on June 26, 2026 on our Facebook Page.

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

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Gabriel Jaden Chessor, born March 21, 2007, was arrested on July 22, 2025 and charged with Lewd or Lascivious Behavior- (800.04(5b): An offender 18 years of age or older who commits lewd or lascivious molestation against a victim less than 12 years of age commits a life felony)- and Obscene Material- Distribute/Transmit info harmful to minors (847.0138(2)), a third degree felony. This is case 2025-CF-001403-F in the Okaloosa County Court in Florida. He appears to be attending his parent’s church, at least on occasion.

An investigation was initiated on July 11, 2025. The crimes are alleged to have occurred between March 21, 2025 and May 13, 2025 at Chessor’s home, though other incidents were stated to have happened about two years prior when he was 16. When he did it again soon after he turned 18, it was stated that he told her it couldn’t happen again as he was 18 and could get “arrested for life.” However, text messages were found after then and Snapchat had been used to send pictures.

According to the probable cause affidavit, when Gabriel Chessor was interviewed on July 22, 2025, he “said he had been struggling with pornography and masturbation and had started to become ‘curious’ when he was around 15 years old.” He admitted to the two incidents when he was under 18, but at first would not talk about anything after he turned 18. However, when the text messages were mentioned to him, he did admit to them, as well as sending “several photos of his erect penis to the Victim via Snapchat” and to rubbing her vagina.

Bond was set at $102,500 and a surety bond was posted on July 24, 2025. A written plea of not guilty was entered, waiving his arraignment hearing.

As part of the conditions of his bond, he is to have no contact with the victim or their immediate family, he is to have no contact with minors, no internet access, he cannot have any device capable of internet access, and he is to reside with friends of the family in Dufunak Springs and may attend their church, but is to have no contact with minors there. In addition, every Wednesday he is to report in person or via telephone to the Okaloosa County Pretrial Services Office at the Crestview Courthouse. He has a GPS monitor.

On November 17, a motion was filed to modify his pretrial release, which was unopposed. This was to allow a temporary change in his residence. An order was issued by the judge on the same day.

Pretrial conferences were held on October 13 and December 8, 2025.

A pretrial conference was to be held on February 9, 2026, but a motion for continuance was filed on February 2. It was rescheduled for April 13, but another motion for continuance was filed on April 2, 2026.

On March 23, 2026, an unopposed motion was filed to modify his pretrial release to allow a temporary change in his residence. Yet another unopposed motion for this was filed on April 3, 2026. These were all changes for brief periods while Gabriel has been living with family friends.

On May 27, 2026 the defense held four depositions, at least some of which were via Zoom.

The last pretrial conference was held on June 8, 2026 and the next is set for August 10, 2026.

Gabriel Chessor is represented by Timothy Flaherty.

Gabriel Chessor is the son of Christopher “Shane” Chessor, pastor of Greater Vision Church in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Greater Vision is a Oneness Pentecostal church that appears to be independent, however Shane Chessor’s late father, James, used to hold license in the United Pentecostal Church from at least the early 1970s through some of the 1990s. Shane had been a youth pastor and an associate pastor of his father’s church back in the 1990s. Shane has long considered UPCI pastor Mike Dobbs of Mississippi to be his pastor.

At some point after our initial Facebook Post, Gabriel Chessor removed his Facebook profile, but an older one is still available as of the date of this article.

I originally posted about this on December 9, 2025 and June 19, 2026 on our Facebook Page.

This is not included in our sexual abuse series on the United Pentecostal Church as it is not related to them.

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Former United Pentecostal Church minister Kelsey Carlen-St-Clair Cook, born March 22, 1992, was convicted on March 6, 2026 of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person under 13 (750.520B2B). This was case 2024-0000001014-FC in the 37th Circuit Court of Calhoun County, Michigan.

On May 11, 2026, 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 has been serving her time in the Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti.

Her parents are Gary and Carol Cook, and Gary is pastor of the Apostolic Church of Flat Rock, Michigan, a legally affiliated UPCI church where Kelsey Cook was very involved.

Please refer to our first post on this case, as well as Part 2 and Part 3, which are two posts with UPCI pastor Austin Hopper’s statements.

This article will cover her appeal, and will be periodically updated until it concludes.

As expected, as this usually happens in the criminal cases I have covered, her case was appealed on June 11, 2026. This is the Court Of Appeals Case 381184.

She is no longer being represented by Shannon Marie Smith. Her new attorney is Mark A. Linton, whose practice focuses solely on criminal appeals and post-conviction relief. He requested a transcript of the trial and the sentencing hearing.

On June 12, 2026, the court sent out a defective holding file letter to all parties and listed the appeal as “Incomplete Filing – Criminal (Holding).” The Court of Appeals Internal Operating Procedures PDF file explains that if the claim of appeal lacks something which is required, “a computer-generated ‘defect’ letter may be issued to advise the appellant that the additional documents must be filed, or fee paid, within 21 days.” In addition it explains that, “Once a docket number is assigned to a case, that file is reviewed for critical filing defects and jurisdictional concerns. If there is a jurisdictional concern or if defects have not been corrected in response to a defective filing letter from the clerk’s office, the matter may be referred for possible dismissal.”

July 9, 2026 EDIT: On July 7 her attorney was notified that the 21 day period in the defective filing letter had expired and he was “warned that if ROA is not filed by July 13,” the case would be submitted for dismissal on July 14. On the same day the attorney submitted the required Register of Actions. The appeal is now listed as “Claim of Appeal – Criminal” and it is moving forward.

As new information becomes available, this article will be updated.

I originally posted about this on June 18, 2026  and July 9, 2026 on our Facebook Page.

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

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United Pentecostal Church minister Nolan Arthur of Richmond, Indiana, born November 3, 2000, was arrested on March 17, 2026. He was included in the fourteen men who were arrested as part of the “Out of Bounds” multi-day operation by the Miami Valley Human Trafficking Task Force and others.  They targeted “individuals seeking to engage in prostitution and the solicitation of minors.” (See this post from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office in Dayton, Ohio.)

Nolan Arthur was charged with one count of soliciting (2907.24) and one count of grooming (2907.071).  This is case 26CRB00366, filed on March 18, 2026, in the Kettering Municipal Court in Ohio.

There was a video arraignment on March 18 where he received a public defender referral and entered a not guilty plea and was released. He was being represented by Lauren Dever, but a substitution of counsel was filed on March 20 and a discovery request was made by his new attorney, Bradley Groene.

On May 11, a notification for a change of plea was entered and on June 2, 2026 he entered into a plea deal where he plead guilty to grooming and the soliciting charge was dropped. (The soliciting charge would have involved an adult and the grooming charge a minor.) He was sentenced to 90 days in jail, which was suspended. He also received two years of unsupervised probation, where he must be of good behavior, with no future violations of the law, and had to forfeit his cell phone. He owes $325.00 in fines and costs, plus $33.00 for the dropped charge, which has not yet been paid as of the date of this article. He is being monitored through July 31, 2026 to ensure the amount is paid.

Nolan Arthur is the son of United Pentecostal minister Kevin Arthur. Nolan has long been involved at the Oak Park Pentecostals, located on Chester Boulevard in Richmond, Indiana. It is a United Pentecostal Church where Kevin Arthur is the bishop emeritus, Robert Arthur (retired UPCI Missionary) is bishop, and Nolan’s brother, Jesse Arthur, is the senior pastor.

Nolan Arthur first appeared in the 2024 UPCI Directory with a local license, which is indicative of him receiving it in 2023. The 2025 UPCI Directory showed him with a general license.

On March 20, 2026, the church posted a notice on their Facebook Page, but later removed it. It stated, “Oak Park Church is aware of the recent arrest of one of our members, Nolan Arthur. We take situations of this nature seriously and are committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity, accountability, and care within our church community and all affiliated ministries.

“Mr. Arthur is not in any leadership capacity at Oak Park Church or involved in any capacity at Oak Park Early Learning Academy. Out of respect for the legal process and the privacy of those involved, the church will not be providing additional details or commentary regarding the matter at this time.

“Oak Park Church remains committed to fostering a safe, supportive, and Christ-centered environment for our congregation, the children and families served by Oak Park Early Learning Academy, and the broader community. We appreciate the continued prayers and understanding of our members and partners during this time.”

As time allows, more will be written about this case.

I originally posted about this on June 4, 2026 on our Facebook Page.

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

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