International Journal of Coercion, Abuse, and Manipulation Volume 9 2026 18
Pastor Sexual Exploitation of Adult
Congregation Members
Jaime Simpson1 and Jodi Death2
Abstract: This article examines the Pastor Sexual Exploitation Framework, developed from the lived experiences of adult
congregation members who were victims of sexual violence perpetrated by pastors or church leaders within Evangelical and
Pentecostal Christian faith communities in Australia. Sexual grooming and coercion of adults by pastors remain under-
researched phenomena, with no comprehensive examination or national data on the patterns and tactics used by pastors to
coerce sexual activity from adults within their congregations. This exploratory study addresses this gap by drawing from the
responses of thirty-three participants who completed an online survey, which included both closed and open-ended questions.
The findings reveal a clear pattern of ongoing grooming tactics and coercive controlling behaviours that lead to the systemic
entrapment of adult congregation members. Furthermore, significant harms were reported, impacting the respondents’
spiritual, psychological, physical, relational, financial, and emotional well-being. This research frames pastor sexual misconduct
involving adult congregation members as sexual coercion and sexual exploitation, placing their experiences within the context
of gender-based sexual violence.
Keywords: adult clergy sexual abuse adult sexual grooming clergy sexual misconduct #churchtoo DARVO Evangelical,
Pentecostal Christian faith communities.
1 Corresponding author. Jaime.Simpson@uon.edu.au
Master of Philosophy, Master of Counselling, Bachelor of Counselling, Graduate Cert Domestic Violence
2 Associate Professor, Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice, Queensland University of Technology, Queensland
Clergy-perpetrated child sexual grooming has been
extensively examined in academic research. However,
adult clergy sexual grooming remains significantly
underexplored despite its profound impacts on
survivors. In this article, the terms pastor and clergy
are used interchangeably to refer to individuals who
hold positions of leadership and authority within
Christian faith communities. When a member of the
clergy abuses their position of authority to groom and
sexually exploit an adult congregant, these actions are
often dismissed as a moral failing or mischaracterised
as a consensual relationship between two adults. Such
framings tend, for the most part, to overlook clearly
predatory tactics and minimise the role of coercion
facilitated through clergy influence and authority (de
Weger, 2016 Kennedy, 2009).
This article introduces the Pastor Sexual Exploitation
Framework, a visual model illustrating how adult
sexual grooming occurs and is sustained within faith
communities. Developed from data collected from
adults who experienced sexual harassment, grooming,
or abuse by pastors in Australian Evangelical and
Pentecostal Christian faith communities, this
framework provides a comprehensive tool that may
assist in detecting, deterring, and preventing adult
sexual grooming in religious settings. Therapists can
also use the framework to help clients understand the
grooming process, their experiences of entrapment,
and the traumatic impacts that resulted.
Background
Sexual exploitation in religious contexts is not an
isolated event but is situated within interconnected
social and institutional structures (Campbell,
Dworkin, &Cabral, 2009 Simpson, 2025). Sexual
violence remains a pervasive issue across religious
institutions and Australian society as a whole. As a
form of deeply entrenched, gender-based violence,
it impacts individuals from all demographic groups,
with the majority of victims being women and
children (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
[AIHW], 2020). According to the Australian Bureau
of Statistics (ABS) (2023), more than one in five
women (22%) and one in sixteen men (6.1%) have
experienced sexual violence since the age of 15.
doi: 10.54208/1000/0009/002

19
Jaime Simpson and Jodi Death |Pastor Sexual Exploitation of Adult Congregation Members
While there is no national data available on the
prevalence of adult clergy sexual abuse (ACSA)
in Australia, international and historical research
highlight its scope. Early work by Sipe (1994)
characterised the sexual abuse of minors as “the tip
of the iceberg,” estimating that the number of priests
involved in sexual encounters with adult women was
approximately four times greater, and with adult men
twice as great, as those involved with children (p. 134).
A more recent Australian analysis by Clough (2022)
similarly indicates that women may experience clergy-
perpetrated sexual abuse at rates up to four times higher
than children (Tomazin, 2018, as cited in Clough,
2022). Further, Chaves and Garland (2009) found that
around 3% of women who regularly attended a faith
community had faced sexual advances from a religious
leader, a figure now regarded as conservative and likely
to underestimate the true extent of adult victimisation.
Together, these findings demonstrate that adult
survivors represent a significant but under-recognised
population within both research and institutional
responses.
In recent years, media attention on clergy-perpetrated
sexual exploitation of adults has increased, particularly
following the emergence of the #ChurchToo movement,
a branch of the broader #MeToo movement. The
#ChurchToo movement was started by Emily Joy
Allison and Hannah Paasch, two former Evangelical
women who recognised striking similarities between
the abuse narratives emerging from #MeToo and their
own—and those of others—within evangelical church
contexts (Allison, 2021). Their realisation led to a
tweet, “A day of reckoning is coming for the church, as
it is with Washington &Hollywood. Share your story
on #ChurchToo” (Paasch, 2017).
This tweet ignited a global wave of survivor
testimonies, exposing the systemic nature of abuse
in faith communities. The movement revealed how
church structures often protected perpetrators,
shifted blame onto victims, and reinforced purity
culture to shame and silence women’s sexuality. It also
highlighted that sexual abuse within these contexts
was frequently minimised as mere “misconduct” or
“sexual sin” (Allison, 2021). Through online platforms,
survivors of ACSA emerged as powerful voices,
prompting widespread public disclosures against
prominent Evangelical leaders. A recurring theme
in these disclosures is the clear professional power
imbalance between the pastor and the congregant.
This power differential is critical to understanding
why this research categorises pastor sexual misconduct
as sexual exploitation rather than a consensual affair.
Genuine consent is compromised when a congregant
is overwhelmed by a misuse of authority, trust, and
dependence (Queensland Government, 2024).1
Adult Clergy Sexual Grooming
Grooming is a recurring theme in research on ACSA.
In this context, we define adult clergy sexual grooming
as a spiritually deceptive process used by perpetrator
pastors to establish emotional and spiritual bonds with
congregants, facilitating sexual contact. Victim-based
studies indicate that male clergy are the most common
perpetrators, while female congregants are the primary
victims (de Weger, 2016 Flynn, 2003 Kennedy, 2009
Pooler &Barros-Lane, 2022). The abuse takes place in
religious environments that uphold hierarchical gender
structures, masculine ideology, and purity culture,
which places responsibility for men’s sexual desires
on women (Ambrose &Alexander, 2019 Chaves &
Garland, 2009). These intertwined belief systems are
rooted in long-standing patriarchal interpretations of
scripture that position men as spiritual leaders and
women as morally responsible for regulating sexuality.
Emerging in their modern form through Evangelical
and Pentecostal movements of the late-twentieth-
century, which popularised purity ring ceremonies and
taught adolescent girls that their value was diminished,
likened to “trampled flowers” or “chewed gum”, if they
“lost” their sexual purity (Allison, 2021 Hatmaker,
2025), with no distinction made between sexual abuse
and consensual activity. Purity culture idealised female
chastity and submission while equating sexual sin with
female moral failure (Allison, 2021 Gardner, 2021).
Such frameworks continue to shape victim-blaming
narratives within contemporary church communities
and enable environments where gendered power
imbalances can be exploited.
Research consistently shows that clergy use grooming
tactics to erode boundaries, often framing their actions
as pastoral counselling or spiritual guidance (de Weger,
1 Queensland Government, Criminal Law (Coercive Control and
Affirmative Consent) and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 (Qld)
(‘Coercive Control Act’).