Former KY Pastor Sentenced for Child Sexual Abuse
Zachary King's crimes devastated a church already struggling with scandal and debt.
On June 4, 2026, Zachary King, 48, was sentenced to 13 years behind bars. The former executive pastor of Lexington City Church in Lexington, Kentucky, pleaded guilty to seven felony counts of child sexual abuse and related charges. He was immediately remanded into jail custody.
According to WKYT, the plea agreement he accepted recommended 13 years and also stipulated that he must register as a lifelong sex offender and have no contact with the victim. The Fayette Circuit Court also issued a 10-year interpersonal protective order against King to further protect the victim.
On March 23, 2026, King initially pleaded guilty to the abuse charges involving a 15-year-old girl who attended LexCity Church that King pastored. The charges included the now accepted allegation that King held down and restrained the victim before raping and sodomizing her.
King began abusing the victim when she was 15; this continued for a period of 18 months. He reportedly contacted her through Snapchat and WhatsApp in order to transmit and receive sexually explicit images and messages. King admitted to officials to engaging in sexual intercourse in his home, the victim’s home, and at church, where he served as executive pastor.
“This so-called pastor’s abuse of his position of spiritual trust to prey on a young victim was heartbreaking,” said Attorney General Coleman. “We are sending this predator to prison to protect more Kentuckians from horrific abuse.”
Concerned church staff confronted King in 2024 and filed reports with police regarding their suspicions. That led to a police investigation and his subsequent arrest. King resigned from his position soon after. The actions of the former pastor devastated the church, which was already facing intense financial issues.
The church shut down operations in July 2024. “Due to the continued effects of the financial situation our church inherited several years ago and the impact of the ongoing investigation of a former staff member, we have lost the ability to remain financially viable and fulfill our God-given mission,” the church posted on its website at the time. The website has since been taken down.
King formerly served as a youth pastor at Life.Church in Houston, and at a small Baptist congregation, and also as a campus pastor at the MET Church, also located in Houston.
King was the second pastor to disgrace LexCity church with a sex abuse scandal, with the first being founding pastor Pete Hise. In 2014, Hise admitted to manipulating a church member into physical relations by utilizing his spiritual authority.
Sharon Clements, who came forward to the Roys Report in 2024 as Hise’s victim, has since founded The Way Home, a non-profit that aids people in navigating the aftermath of spiritual abuse.
At the closure of LexCity, leadership said, “As a city, Lexington is blessed with a wide variety of vibrant and welcoming church communities… So, while today ends our chapter, we’re incredibly encouraged by the larger community of Christ followers throughout our city and know that there’s a place within it for everyone who once called LexCity their home.”
After LexCity Church closed, the building was purchased by the Ukrainian Pentecostal Church, which serves about 2,500 congregants each week.
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