By Philip Phi
Posted Sep 25, 2026 at 10:46 PM
A Polk County pastor, Timothy Chaneyfield, 42, has been accused of using his position to groom and sexually abuse a 14-year-old boy, subsequently exposing him to HIV. According to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, Chaneyfield, a former Polk County Schools employee and pastor at St. James United American Free Will Baptist Church, allegedly used a dating app to initiate contact with the teen before moving their interactions to Instagram.
Sheriff Judd stated that Chaneyfield picked up the boy from his neighborhood on three occasions, took him to his home in Eagle Lake, and sexually abused him. The sheriff described Chaneyfield as HIV positive, alleging that he failed to disclose his status to the teen prior to engaging in unprotected sexual activities. This act of nondisclosure is particularly concerning as it potentially endangered the health of the young victim.
In addition to the allegations involving the 14-year-old, Chaneyfield is also linked to a 26-year-old who claims to have had sexual contact with him and later discovered Chaneyfield’s HIV status. This raises further concerns about Chaneyfield’s conduct and the potential for additional victims.
Chaneyfield, who worked for Polk County Public Schools, including at Crystal Lake Middle School, from 2012 to 2024, now faces multiple charges. These include lewd battery on a child, traveling to meet a minor, computer-related offenses, and failing to disclose his HIV status. Sheriff Judd has called for anyone who may have had a sexual relationship with Chaneyfield to seek medical care and contact investigators.
As the case unfolds, it serves as a sobering reminder of the importance of accountability and vigilance within communities. In the spirit of Micah 6:8, which calls for justice and mercy, society must ensure that those in positions of trust are held to the highest standards of conduct, prioritizing the safety and well-being of all, especially the most vulnerable.
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.
