Lexington pastor arrested; charges of sexual abuse and exploitation filed

TO UPDATE:

Zachary King was arraigned in Fayette County District Court on Tuesday afternoon.

King’s attorney asked the judge to set King’s bail at $50,000 and to allow him to pay 10 percent of that amount, or $5,000, to be released.

Instead, Judge John Tackett set bail at $250,000.

Original story:

A Lexington pastor has been arrested and accused of sexual abuse and exploitation of a minor.

According to an arrest warrant citation, Zachary King agreed to an interview with criminal investigators in Attorney General Russell Coleman’s office. In that interview, he stated that he had “had a sexual relationship with a minor over the past year and a half.”

The indictment further states that King told investigators that he had “sexual intercourse with the minor beginning at age 15 in January 2023 and continuing through April 2024.”

During the interrogation, the indictment states, he also admitted to having “sexual intercourse in the minor’s house, in her apartment and in the church where he used to be a pastor.”

King resigned from his position at the church after being confronted with the allegations by other church employees, the statement said.

The indictment also states that King told the investigator that he would call the minor and send her messages via “Snapchat and WhatsApp” to arrange the meetings and also “obtain sexually explicit images of the minor.”

LEX 18 discovered previous video sermons on YouTube that show King was pastor of LexCity Church in Lexington.

He is being held at the Fayette County Detention Center and is charged with:

• Procuring or promoting the use of minors by electronic means
• First degree rape
• First degree sodomy
• Third degree rape
• Third degree sodomy
• first degree sexual abuse

King is scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday, July 2, at 1:00 p.m.

This is a developing story, check back later for the latest updates.