Alan Chambers, the former Winter Park ministry leader who at one time preached we must “pray the gay away,” has been charged for attempting to meet with a teen boy for sex.
Chambers, 54, was arrested by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office Tuesday after he was found to be seeking sex from a 14-year-old boy, who was actually an undercover detective, on social media platform Snapchat.
He is an executive with John Craig Clothier in Winter Park and is involved with the Park Avenue District.
He now faces charges of solicitation of a minor, transmission of harmful material to minors and an unlawful use of two-way communication device.
The investigation, which started in February, resulted in finding Chambers had been sending messages saying he wanted to meet up with, kiss and have sex with the boy, according to the arrest report obtained by Fox 35.
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He also was noted as asking the boy: “Is it bad that I want to make love to someone who is 14?”
The two later moved the correspondence to online messenger Telegram. Chambers sent sexually explicit messages and shared photos of both his face and nude body.
Chambers allegedly asked the boy on April 10 if he could take an Uber to meet near his office on Park Avenue in Winter Park.
He periodically expression concern and occasionally deleted the chats between the two.
Chambers admitted to having the same account username as the one detectives found used to try meeting with a teen boy for sex, the Sheriff’s Office says.
The Sheriff’s Office says it is currently unknown whether there are additional victims who are minors.
On Wednesday afternoon, a judge set Chambers’ bond at $15,000. He is prohibited from having any contact with individuals under 18 and was ordered to stay off social media. He has online access for work only.
Anyone with information about any additional victims should call the agency’s non-emergency line at 407-836-4357, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said on social media.
Chambers is a former leader of Orlando-based Exodus International, a Christian organization that pushed the “ex-gay” movement and sought to promote conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ people. He’s also the author of three books — My Exodus, God’s Grace and the Homosexual Next Door and Leaving Homosexuality — which detail his experience fighting being gay.
In 2013, he issued a lengthy apology through the Exodus International website repenting for his involvement in hurtful treatment of the LGBTQ+ community.
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