A 47-year-old anti-LGBTQ+ youth pastor in California has been arrested on charges of sexual abuse in connection with allegations that he abused a minor.

Joshua David Kemper of Coarsegold, California, is accused of sexual acts that occurred between March and July 2025 with a 15-year-old girl who was a member of his church. Investigators say that the acts occurred at the church, in the victim’s home, and in Kemper’s car, and that they have evidence, including messages, pictures, and video clips that Kemper and the victim sent each other.

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The investigation into Kemper started on July 28 after officials at his church filed a report with police. They say that Kemper used a VoIP phone number and burner social media accounts to try to obfuscate his communications with the victim. Kemper was arrested at his home on October 27.

Police haven’t released the name of the church he worked at and said that they believe he may have had more victims.

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A Facebook account belonging to Joshua Kemper is still active and is mostly full of innocuous Christian and 90s nostalgia memes. He did post one meme earlier this year, on July 1, that implied that it’s LGBTQ+ people in churches who make them unsafe for women.

He posted some about women submitting to men, which may be, if the allegations are true, why he sought to sexually abuse a minor. One video he posted was a sketch that involved God telling a woman to submit to her husband.

He also posted a meme saying that teachers are turning kids transgender behind their parents’ backs, which isn’t happening.

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