ROGERS, Ark. — A Rogers youth pastor who was arrested Friday (May 7) for alleged sexual crimes with a minor was released from the Benton County jail on a $50,000 cash bond Saturday (May 8).
31-year-old Kevin James Madden was arrested for allegedly sending nude pictures of himself to an underage female and requesting another minor send nude photos to him.
On April 30, 2021, a member of the Discover Church in Rogers reported a crime involving a minor. The tipster told police that a juvenile female from the church had come forward saying that the youth pastor, Kevin Madden, had sent sexual pictures to her and that he had sent inappropriate text messages to another minor in the church.
During the course of their investigation, detectives learned that Madden had allegedly tried to kiss one of the girls at a church event and that he harassed her while she was at work. The girl also accused Madden of sending pictures of his penis and photos of himself showering to her over Snapchat. That other girl stated that Madden asked her to send him nude photos.
A detective spoke with Madden at his home, where he initially denied the allegations against him. He said he had made mistakes with the juveniles but that he had not touched them. Madden went on to say what started as talks about one of the girl's relationships and boyfriends had turned into inappropriate conversations. He then admitted to sending a picture of his penis to the girl and photos of him in the shower.
Madden denied asking the other female to send him nude photos, according to a court affidavit.
The detective requested a warrant for Madden's arrest for engaging children in sexually explicit conduct for use in visual or print media and two counts of sexual indecency with a child.
Following the allegations, Discover Church issued this statement:
Last Friday, we were made aware of allegations against a staff member. In response to these claims, we immediately notified the authorities and the Department of Human Services and placed Mr. Madden on administrative leave, pending the results of the investigation.
Our next action was to contact the victims and their parents, as the safety of our members is our primary concern.
On Monday, May 3, we were told that the allegations seemed to be valid, but the detective could not give us a definitive answer at that time. On Friday, we were officially made aware that all allegations were true. At that moment we immediately moved to terminate his employment here at Discover Church.
We do not take the safety of our members, our students and our children lightly. We acted swiftly to contact authorities and ensure a path to finding the truth in the situation. Counseling services have been offered to the victims and their families and we will make every resource in our reach, available to them in their grief.
Our hearts are broken and go out to all affected by this tragedy. This is not who we are, and we will do everything within our power to protect those who have been placed within our care.
We ask that you all pray for the victims and all the families involved, and respect their privacy during this time.