Virginia SBC Pastor Hit With 19 Counts of Crimes Against Children
Suspect’s previous jobs were focused on children and youth
A Baptist pastor’s long history of working with children is raising questions after his arrest for child sexual abuse.
David Lawrence Schneider of Farnham, Virginia / Photo via Richmond County Sheriff’s Office
David Lawrence Schneider, 55, lead pastor of Fairport Baptist Church in Reedville, Virginia, was charged on Aug. 8 with 19 felony counts in what the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office calls “an ongoing investigation involving crimes against children.”
Those charges include one count of aggravated sexual battery and 10 counts of forcible sodomy. The remaining eight are for “indecent liberties with a child while in a custodial role.” The public notice on Facebook offered no further details of the alleged crimes, including where or when they took place.
RealRadio804 reports these charges may be in addition to two earlier felony charges of “taking liberties with a child in a custodial role,” and that Schneider was being held at the Northern Neck Regional Jail without bond.
In an article by local news site Rappahannock Record from October 2022, Schneider—who had just become lead pastor—is described as a Liberty University graduate who majored in child and adolescent behavior, served as director of youth outreach and family services for the YMCA in Central Virginia, worked as a special education teacher in Westmoreland and King George counties, and was a youth pastor at several churches in the Northern Neck area.
Citing a Jan 15, 2023, ordination sermon that seems to have since been scrubbed from Fairport Baptist’s website, The Roys Report elaborated that Schneider studied youth ministry and had previously served as a youth leader and interim pastor at Nomini Baptist Church in Montross, Virginia.
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On the sermon recording, an unidentified speaker said, “An entire generation of youth at Nomino Baptist Church benefited from Dave’s youth ministry work.”
It is unclear whether Schneider, who lives in Farnham, remains pastor of Fairport Baptist Church, which has not responded to media inquiries. However, recent sermons on the church’s website indicate other men have been filling in on Sundays since at least July 7, a month before his arrest.
In the recording of that morning service, a speaker said Schneider “had a little bump in the road, but everything is working out good,” and announced he would be back on July 15. There is no recording for July 21, which would have been Schneider’s first Sunday after his return.
In the Aug. 4 audio, a woman can be heard saying, “I want to thank you, all you deacons, for all the care you gave to our church through the trials of last week and I have every confidence you will take every care to help us find a new minister. I’m praying for you and I’m praying for Dave.”
In the latest sermon audio, dated Aug. 11, Schneider’s arrest is not mentioned. A man leading prayers says, “There is so much bad going on. We know the devil is on the move. We will not let the devil conquer this church, this congregation.”
Fairport Baptist Church is listed on faithstreet.com as being affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), which has been under the microscope since a 2019 report accused the convention of mishandling sexual assault cases. Since then, the SBC has struggled to decide on and implement reforms that would hold abusers more accountable and better protect its members.
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