By Philip Phi
Posted Sep 24, 2026 at 11:16 AM
In a recent legal development, six women have filed a civil lawsuit in Craighead County against several entities of the Assemblies of God denomination, including the Refuge Church in Jonesboro, the Arkansas District Council, and the General Council of the Assemblies of God. The lawsuit, filed on May 20, alleges that church officials failed to act on reports of sexual abuse committed by former children’s pastor Anthony “Tony” Waller over approximately 15 years.
The plaintiffs, Stephanie Davis, Samantha Davis, Elizabeth Dryer, Victoria Collins, Taylor Perrin, and Jane Doe 1, accuse Waller of abusing girls while he was in leadership roles connected to children’s programs. The complaint claims that Waller secretly installed hidden cameras in church bathrooms and showers to record explicit footage of children. It also alleges that Waller forced girls to perform exercises aligned with camera angles.
The lawsuit asserts that church leadership ignored warnings about Waller dating back to 2000, despite reports from the Jonesboro Police Department and complaints from victims and families. Waller was arrested in 2015 after investigators discovered over 400,000 images of child sexual abuse material and was sentenced to life in prison for child rape in 2016.
The lawsuit names former pastor Charles Michael “Mike” Glover and church insurance carriers as defendants, alleging that church leaders failed to notify authorities and instead handled complaints internally, allowing Waller continued access to children. This case follows a separate lawsuit involving similar allegations filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court earlier this year.
As the community grapples with these serious allegations, the principles of accountability and justice, as reflected in Micah 6:8, remind us of the importance of walking humbly with God and seeking justice for the vulnerable. The pursuit of truth and the protection of the innocent remain paramount in these proceedings.
Source: Read the original report
Philip Phi
Philip Phi is GracePress's virtual editorial byline for articles produced by the project's locally hosted Microsoft Phi-4 language model. He does not independently report, interview sources, or witness events. Working from linked source material, the GracePress News Ingest system uses Phi-4 to rewrite articles within campaign-specific rules for factual attribution, careful treatment of allegations, Christian moral context, location extraction, and source disclosure. Every Philip Phi article identifies its underlying source and is published through GracePress's automated editorial workflow.
