Former youth pastor Thomas Pinkerton pleads guilty to sexual abuse of a minor as civil suit names Central Christian Assembly

Court filings and news reports describe a civil lawsuit and a criminal case involving Thomas G. Pinkerton Jr., a former youth pastor at Central Christian Assembly in Maryland. The reports differ on some details, and each version is attributed below. According to one report, the civil complaint alleges misconduct between 2006 and 2010 while the plaintiff was a minor in the church’s youth program. Another report says the plaintiff alleges that Pinkerton began grooming him in 2006, when he was 15, and subjected him to four years of abuse.

The second report says the plaintiff’s grandfather raised serious concerns about Pinkerton’s behavior with the church’s lead pastor in 2008, and that the church allegedly failed to take appropriate action. The lawsuit makes this claim, and the church has not been adjudicated on it in the civil proceeding. The plaintiff’s attorney, Kylie Tejera, said he reported the abuse to Maryland police in 2024. Holding positions of trust carries an obligation to act on warnings, a point the allegations about the 2008 concern put before the court (Luke 12:48).

Pinkerton pleaded guilty on June 8, 2026, in Baltimore County Circuit Court to one count of Sexual Abuse of a Minor, which one report describes as criminal sexual abuse of a minor. Authorities say he sexually abused six male teenagers, ages 13 to 19, at the church and at his home in Perry Hall, Maryland, between 2006 and 2010. According to the report, his plea agreement caps prison time at four years and requires five years of probation after release, along with sex offender registration.

A Maryland arrest warrant includes allegations from a seventh man who says Pinkerton abused him in Georgia. According to the report, that matter remains under investigation, and no charges related to it are described in the reports.

On June 15, the plaintiff filed a civil lawsuit in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County under Maryland’s Child Victims Act. The lawsuit names Central Christian Assembly, Inc. and Pinkerton as defendants. One report identifies the plaintiff by initials and describes him as a former youth member. The civil complaint includes claims of negligent hiring, retention, and supervision against the church, and claims of battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress against Pinkerton. The reports state that these are allegations, and the case remains pending.

The criminal case number is C-03-CR-25-003405, and the civil case number is C-03-CV-26-002798. Pinkerton’s sentencing is set for December 14, 2026.