Winter Park’s polished image took a hit Tuesday when Alan Chambers, the former head of the conversion-therapy group Exodus International, was arrested in an undercover sting and accused of trying to communicate with someone he believed was a 14-year-old.
The 54-year-old now faces counts that include solicitation of a minor via computer, transmitting harmful material to a minor, and unlawful use of a two-way communication device, according to an arrest affidavit. Investigators say the case grew out of online messages that started on social media and then shifted to encrypted chat apps.
According to WFTV, an undercover detective first traded messages in February with a Snapchat user whose account later moved conversations to text messages and the encrypted app Telegram. The affidavit says the user identified himself as a 50-year-old named "John David," talked about meeting up and sexual activity, and sent a photo of an office that investigators say helped them link the account to Chambers.
Deputies ultimately stopped Chambers near Aloma Avenue and Strathy Lane, then arrested him in Winter Park. Investigators seized a black iPhone and an Apple computer, and he was booked into the Orange County Jail with no bond listed.
Chambers is widely known for his years as president of Exodus International, the umbrella group that promoted so-called "gay cure" therapies before he publicly disavowed the organization and apologized in 2013, a shift detailed by The Guardian. In more recent years, he kept a lower-profile presence tied to Park Avenue businesses and fashion events, and local reporting, including ClickOrlando, has identified him with John Craig Clothiers in Winter Park.
How Investigators Say the Sting Unfolded
Detectives say they used a stack of search warrants and subpoenas to connect the Snapchat handle, phone number, and Telegram username to Chambers. According to the affidavit, records from Google and a phone carrier linked the online accounts to his name and date of birth.
AT&T records tied the phone number in question to an Alan M. L. Chambers Foundation with a Winter Park billing address, and Chambers told detectives he had been communicating with someone he believed to be 14, according to WFTV. What began as a series of anonymous chats now sits in a very non-anonymous case file.
Legal Implications
The offenses listed in the affidavit line up with Florida laws that ban using a computer to solicit minors and sending harmful or obscene material to minors. Those statutes are spelled out in Chapter 847 of the Florida Statutes, and the possible penalties depend on the exact charges and the facts that prosecutors can prove.
It is not yet clear whether Chambers has hired an attorney or when he will be arraigned. Court filings and public records will show the next moves, but the arrest has already pulled renewed attention back to his history with Exodus International and to the broader fight over conversion-therapy practices in faith communities.
