Richard Lee Sentell, a former senior pastor at the now-defunct Cornerstone Church of God in Cleveland, TN has been sentenced to 8 years for possession of indecent images of minors. He was sentenced after he pled guilty this Friday. In 2023 the Church of God removed him as a pastor. Sentell is not eligable for parole. his church has cut all ties with the disgraced pastor.
“In the summer of 2023, the Cleveland Police Department received a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (“NCMEC”). The tip stated that a user in Cleveland, Tennessee uploaded two images of child … abuse material to a website called BingImage,” police said. “BingImage is an AI-assisted tool which allows a user to upload an image and locate additional images which are similar to the one uploaded.”
“BingImage blocked the uploads and reported the activity to NCMEC. NCMEC notified the Cleveland Police Department. Detective Matthew Landolt was assigned to the case. His investigation revealed that the uploads originated at an address on Overbrook Circle in Cleveland, Tennessee,” they explained. “The home was owned by Richard Lee Sentell and his wife. Mr. Sentell was, at the time, the senior pastor at Cornerstone Church of God. Detective Landolt obtained a search warrant for the property.”
“Detectives from the Cleveland Police Department discovered a suspicious laptop located wedged between a mattress and a box spring in a downstairs bedroom in the residence. Detectives Landolt searched the laptop and discovered 124 unique images of child … abuse material,” the press release said. “The majority of the images depicted prepubescent children being … assaulted. Data on the laptop indicated that Richard Lee Sentell was the owner and user of the laptop.”
“Additionally, data on the laptop indicated that Mr. Sentell had searched for and otherwise sought out child … abuse material for many months, typically late at night or early in the morning,” the authorities report. “Today, Richard Lee Sentell entered a guilty plea to the indicted charge of … exploitation of a minor. He received a sentence of eight years to serve in the Tennessee Department of Corrections.”
“Thanks to new truth in sentencing laws, Mr. Sentell will not be eligible for parole. Assistant District Attorney General Sean Boers handled the prosecution. Our office thanks Detective Landolt and the Cleveland Police Department for their diligent work in protecting this community,” the document concluded. At the time of his charging, Tennessee Church of God Administrative Bishop T. Wayne Dority, gave a statement to the press.
“On December 27, 2023, officials at the Tennessee Church of God State Offices learned that Rev. Rick Sentell, pastor of the former Cornerstone Church of God in Cleveland, Tennessee, has been indicted on criminal charges,” he wrote. In keeping with Church of God policy, Rev. Sentell has been suspended from all ministerial activities, pending disposition of these charges. Further, Cornerstone Church of God was suspended some time ago as an active Church of God congregation and is no longer meeting. Our prayers go out to all involved in this matter.”
“Sadly, we are aware of the recent events. Pastor Sentell is not affiliated with the Church of God Jerusalem Acres. We rented our facility to his church Cornerstone COG on Sundays for services for approximately 3 years,” added a church close to the scandal. ” They stopped renting from us this past summer. We knew Pastor Sentell to be a faithful man of God, a kind and caring person. His family as well. We’re devastated by recent events and heartbroken for everyone affected. We’re praying for all.”