Trump-loving evangelical leader busted with hard drive full of appalling images

The former head of a Christian conservative voter outreach has been arrested for possession of child sexual abuse materials.

Jason C. Yates, former CEO of My Faith Votes, has been charged in Minnesota with eight felony counts of possession of child pornography after a relative came forward with a hard drive containing more than 100 sexually explicit images and videos involving children under 14 years old, including eight involving children between 5 and 7 years old, reported Religion News Service.

A relative had accidentally discovered the hard drive in the 55-year-old Yates' office and gave the device to another relative, who then turned it over to law enforcement.

Investigators met with Yates on Sept. 13, and he refused to give them a password to the encrypted files on the hard drive and revealed he had a prior conviction that had been expunged related to child sexual abuse materials.

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Yates served as CEO and president of the evangelical outreach organization until early August, when he was replaced by board member Chris Sadler, and just a few weeks before the hard drive was discovered he published an op-ed in The Washington Times urging Christians to oppose “sexually deviant” messages aimed at children through LGBTQ issues.

“This infernal programming is being downloaded into our children, and it becomes far easier when it finds no resistance in our public square — when it is allowed to fill the void left by the absence of our faith,” Yates wrote.

My Faith Votes, whose honorary national chairman is Mike Huckabee, is part of a loose network of nonprofit organizations rallying support for Donald Trump through get-out-the-vote operations, and Yates asked evangelical Christians over the summer to sign a pledge to vote in every election.

“As a Christian, I commit to voting for candidates and policies that uphold the sanctity of life, the traditional family, religious liberty, and justice for all,” the pledge reads. “I believe that my biblical values should guide my choices at the ballot box, ensuring that our nation’s laws and leaders reflect God’s truth and righteousness.”