A Florida pastor has been convicted by a Manatee County jury of sexually abusing a 2-year-old child. Jonathan Elwing was handed three life sentences after he was found guilty on all 12 counts with which he was charged with. Elwing, 45, was the senior pastor at Palm View Baptist Church. Prior to his arrest he was very vocal about his beliefs and religion on social media. On his X account he frequently shared passages from the bible along with other religious wisdom, he also interacted with his followers, sometimes asking questions and inviting people to give answers. Anti-LGBTQ Florida pastor Jonathan Elwing, 43, convicted of child r*pe & CSAM production, sentenced to 3 life sentences.This MONSTER filmed himself r*ping a child and had the audacity to criticize society for being accepting of LGBTQ people.Every. Damn. Day. pic.twitter.com/pWORxQ2GEf— Reich-Wing Watch (@ReichWingWatch) April 23, 2026 Aside from that the pastor also made his views on the LGBTQ community quite clear. One post which received quite a fair bit of negative attention featured a captioned image showing “The world and fake Christians” bowing before a statue labeled “LGBTQ.” In the foreground of the image “Real Christians” can be seen standing. Elwing wrote above the image “The truth hurts.” Clearly he was already a pretty bad pastor even before he was convicted of sexually abusing a child. Jonathan Elwing’s arrest Elwing’s arrest likely came as a shock to many who followed him. He faced a long list of despicable charges which included capital sexual battery, lewd or lascivious molestation and crimes tied to the production and possession of child sexual abuse material as per Bradenton Herald. The trial itself did not last long and the jury only deliberated for an hour before coming back with a guilty verdict. The sentence was handed out by Circuit Judge D. Ryan Felix immediately after the jury returned with their verdict. It was quickly decided that Elwing would spend the rest of his life in prison. Commenting on the shortness of the trial the judge explained, “It’s a trial that’s short because the evidence was overwhelming. It was strong.” Authorities began investigating Jonathan Elwing in June 2024 after receiving a tip regarding the purchase of child sexual abuse material using cryptocurrency. Investigators soon obtained a warrant and searched Elwing’s Google Pixel 7. After unlocking the device they found five images taken on April 26th, 2024 which showed Elwing sexually abusing a 2-year-old child. The metadata on the photos proved that they had been taken by the device and not downloaded from the internet. Prosecutors also pointed to one photo that they say captured his face showing his “distinctive black metal-frame glasses” and “gray, wiry beard.” The evidence against him was overwhelming. Perhaps Jonathan Elwing should have spent less time worrying about the LGBTQ community and more time seeking professional help for his issues.