Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York said Tuesday that a pastor in their jurisdiction is accused of abusing his role to harm children. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the defendant occupied a position of trust and, in the office’s telling on social media, used that role to injure the very people he was supposed to protect. The initial announcement did not include the defendant’s name or a copy of any charging papers.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York posted the notice on X on June 9, 2026, in a short thread shared with the FBI’s New York field office handle. X quoted prosecutors as saying the defendant, described only as a pastor, "used that position to harm children." The office did not provide further details in the post.
What prosecutors said
Prosecutors cast the alleged conduct as a serious breach of pastoral trust and urged the public to share any tips with investigators. The brief social media statement highlighted how sensitive clergy abuse allegations can be and stressed the office’s focus on protecting children in the district. Officials also said they are working with FBI child exploitation personnel as the inquiry moves forward.
EDNY's recent record on clergy cases
The Eastern District has recently taken on other cases involving faith leaders accused of exploiting their congregations. In December 2023, the U.S. Attorney’s Office charged a Long Island pastor with sexual exploitation and related offenses following an investigation that, officials said, involved online enticement and images recovered from electronic devices. That earlier prosecution shows the types of digital and testimonial evidence federal authorities often pursue in these cases, according to the Justice Department.
How investigations are coordinated
Federal prosecutions of alleged child predators typically run through coordinated efforts such as the Justice Department’s Project Safe Childhood, which brings together U.S. Attorneys’ offices, the FBI and local law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute exploitation offenses. The Justice Department program is designed to streamline how these agencies share information and build cases.
Recent nationwide enforcement pushes described by the FBI have resulted in hundreds of arrests and, in some instances, the recovery of child victims. Those operations are part of a broader national strategy that EDNY participates in when it pursues alleged child exploitation cases.
Legal notes
The specific federal statutes that might ultimately be charged will depend on what investigators develop, but laws such as 18 U.S.C. § 2251 and 18 U.S.C. § 2252 frequently cover sexual exploitation of children and activities involving child sexual abuse material. Those provisions carry lengthy prison terms in many circumstances, particularly in cases that involve production, distribution or enticement involving minors. See 18 U.S.C. § 2251 and 18 U.S.C. § 2252 as published by the Legal Information Institute and the Legal Information Institute for the statutes most commonly used in these prosecutions.
We will continue to track court filings and public statements from EDNY for the defendant’s name, any formal charges and an arraignment schedule, and will update this story as more information becomes available. Authorities routinely ask anyone with relevant information to contact the FBI or the U.S. Attorney’s Office so investigators can follow up.
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