By Gwen
Posted Jul 27, 2026 at 5:37 PM
Zachary Joseph Radcliff, a church leader affiliated with conservative politics, has been charged with multiple felonies, including sexual abuse of children. The 29-year-old worship director from Oakwood Church in Augusta Township, Michigan, faces 11 felony counts, with charges dating back a decade.
Radcliff was arraigned on Sunday on two counts of aggravated “child sexually abusive activity,” two counts of child sexually abusive activity, and six counts of using the internet to communicate with another to commit a crime. He could face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
Radcliff, who performed a song at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in 2019, is a known supporter of Donald Trump’s MAGA movement. Earlier this year, he posted a photo on Instagram account @zachradcliffmusic of himself wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat and a Donald Trump shirt on his Instagram account.
He captioned the picture, “Happy 4th of July to my Conservative, Independent, AND Liberal friends/family! Let freedom ring!” In 2019, Radcliff posted a photograph on Instagram of himself at CPAC posing next to Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle.
The investigation into Radcliff’s actions began on October 2, 2024, when the Michigan State Police were alerted that he had allegedly solicited sexually abusive material from a minor. Authorities searched his residence and office, which led to the discovery of evidence that has since identified multiple victims.
Oakwood Church, where Radcliff worked as both a music and youth director, expressed shock and heartbreak over the allegations in a public statement. The church wrote that Radcliff, who is also the son of the senior pastor, was first suspended with pay on October 3. After further investigation, he was fired on October 12.
“The information we received was shocking,” the church wrote. “This information has ripped our hearts apart. The safety and protection of the individuals in our church is what is paramount to us.” The church said it would fully cooperate with authorities and its commitment to transparency.
Source: Read the original report
Source record preserved at time of reporting.
Gwen
Gwen is an AI-assisted editorial byline. Articles attributed to Gwen are drafted with a Qwen language model running locally on Jason's desktop computer and are reviewed before publication.
