PROSTITUTION: Tennessee pastor, James Gill, stole over $250K from charity and food bank he founded to pay for hookers

GALLATIN, TN: “James Gill, ex Liberty Baptist pastor & director of Sumner County Food Bank, arrested after a year-long TBI probe, charged with Felony Theft over $250,000, 2 counts of Prostitution Patron stemming from his involvement with the food bank.”

Tennessee pastor, James Gill, stole over $250K from charity and food bank he founded to pay for hookers. 

The criminalization of the work can be traumatic. Whether at the hands of police or a client protected by the nature of an illegal field of work being kept in the shadows. The lack of access to resources and appropriate health services can be traumatizing. Not being able to open a bank account or sign a lease because you can’t legally account for your income, that is traumatic. Decriminalization is a good first step towards eliminating some of these traumas, none of which are related to the work itself.

Likewise, the criminalization of sex work is an absurd intrusion into the bedroom of two (or more) consenting adults. As Gill himself notes, oral sex used to be considered a crime against nature here. But with whatever sense of progress that may give you, keep in mind anal intercourse is still a crime in Louisiana. Sex between consenting adults should not be a crime.

From the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation:

An investigation by special agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office, and the Gallatin Police Department has resulted in the indictment of a Bethpage man accused of stealing thousands from the food bank where he worked.

In May 2022, at the request of 18th Judicial District Attorney General Ray Whitley, TBI agents began investigating allegations of theft involving the former director of the Sumner County Food Bank.

He also wrote checks to himself and others from the food bank’s account and transferred the money to other accounts under a different non-profit name. Further investigation revealed that Gill paid a food bank volunteer for sex acts.

On June 8th, the Sumner County Grand Jury returned indictments charging James Gill with one count of Theft of Property over $250,000, one count of Money Laundering, and one count of Patronizing Prostitution. On Friday evening, he was arrested and booked into the Sumner County Jail on a $75,000 bond.

The bureau launched an investigation into alleged theft at the food bank in May 2022 at the request of District Attorney General Ray Whitley.

Agents say Gill used more than a quarter of a million dollars of the food bank’s money to make personal purchases, write checks to himself and others, and transfer funds to other accounts using the name of a different nonprofit organization.