Hanover Pastor Chris Allen Phillips Caught in Online Sex for Cash Scheme, Arrested for Embezzling Church
According to reports, there's an ongoing investigation into an alleged online sex-for-money and extortion scheme has led to the arrest of a Hanover County church pastor who allegedly paid a Henrico County woman $100,000 to keep quiet about a sexual encounter he had with her last year.
Pastor Chris Allen Phillips was arrested Thursday night and charged with embezzling $80,000 from his church, the Mechanicsville Advent Christian Church, says the felony warrant.
Phillips was ordered to return for a court appearance June 5 after posting a $6,000 bond.
The Times Dispatch reports:
He was named in court documents linked to the arrest earlier this month of Tonya Farnsworth, 33. She was arrested in Florida after fleeing Henrico, where she faced a prostitution charge. In Hanover, she has been charged with extorting as much as $100,000 from Phillips who cooperated in an investigation of Farnsworth sometime after court documents allege he paid her $200 for oral sex in December last year.
A church elder said this week that Phillips has been placed on leave without pay as the church's youth minister but declined further comment about why Phillips was relieved.
Phillips told Hanover investigators that he paid Farnsworth as much as $100,000, according to a search warrant. His arrest Thursday night on the embezzlement charge indicates some portion of that money came from his church.
Farnsworth operated from a home on West Club Drive in Henrico's West End and advertised her services on Backpage.com using the name Tiffany.Wow! These pastors kill us how they have no shame in their game.
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