American paedophile pastor of Mississippi arrested for sexually molesting a child 

If convicted, Conner Coleman, 22, will face up to 15 years in prison

By Edward Era Barbacena 

A local youth minister could be going from the pulpit to prison if found guilty of what he’s accused of doing with a teen girl from his former congregation.

Conner Coleman, 22, of Ellisville was charged with molesting—touching a child for lustful purposes and booked into the Jones County Adult Detention Center on Thursday evening.

Coleman, who is listed as the “Student Director” at Summerland Baptist Church on the church’s website, is accused of touching the then-15-year-old girl in her crotch area when he was 19 and serving as an intern youth minister at Sandhill Baptist Church outside of Ellisville. The incident occurred in the church just before a mission trip to Arlington, Texas in 2021, according to the affidavit filed against Coleman in Jones County Justice Court. She reported that he rubbed her there, then “looked at her and smiled.”

Coleman is being charged because he was over 18 and “was a person of trust or authority” at the time of the allegation.

A counselor met with Sgt. Priscilla Pitts of the Jones County Sheriff’s Department to launch the investigation, and after doing interviews with the young accuser and completing court paperwork, JCSD Sgt. J.D. Carter requested an arrest warrant. Coleman turned himself in at the jail in Ellisville. Coleman had his initial appearance in Jones County Justice Court on Friday, where Judge Sonny Saul set his bond at $10,000 and ordered him to have no contact with his accuser or her family by any means. The accuser reportedly said that they had not had any contact since Coleman left the church about a year ago. Coleman was represented in court by attorney John Piazza..

If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.