On June 23, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office (DAO) and the DAO’s Family Violence & Sexual Assault Unit announced charges against Philadelphia pastors Bryan Jackson, 42, and Isaiah Banks, 30. Each are charged with a number of felonies, including Criminal Conspiracy, Sexual Abuse of Children, Sexual Exploitation of Children, Corruption of Minors, Unlawful Contact with a Minor, Criminal Use of a Communication Facility, and other related charges.
In early April, Philadelphia police began investigating Banks after receiving a report from the Department of Human Services that Banks allegedly solicited—via text message and social media—child sexual abuse material (CSAM) from a 15-year-old victim in exchange for food or money. According to the individual who made the report, they found the messages while conducting a random check on the victim’s phone and notified a therapist who was a mandated reporter.
Further investigation revealed that Banks allegedly shared the CSAM depicting the 15-year-old victim in this case with Jackson. According to arrest papers, this was not an isolated incident, and Banks and Jackson have been messaging about soliciting CSAM and exchanging the CSAM itself as far back as 2024. Messages between the two also allegedly revealed plans to solicit further CSAM. While evidence indicates that both Banks and Jackson have been soliciting CSAM from multiple victims for at least two years, the current prosecution is focused on the time period between January and May 2026. Both Banks and Jackson have been arrested, charged, and are awaiting preliminary hearings.
Regarding these charges, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner commented that “the predatory sexual abuse committed by both clergy members is an egregious abuse of their positions of trust in the community,” and while these men are not representative of all pastors, “these crimes are especially troubling given their access to young people.”
This is not the first time clergymen have used their positions of power and trust to abuse practitioners and minors. Famously, Ravi Zacharias used his position of spiritual authority to sexually abuse women for decades. Additionally, in 2018, more than 300 “predator priests” in Pennsylvania were found to have sexually abused over 1,000 minors.
The CSE Institute commends the Philadelphia police’s investigation into Banks and Jackson as well as the Philadelphia DAO’s decision to pursue the charges at hand. We also emphasize that while this pair’s alleged conduct is not representative of their faith or religious institutions, religious institutions can nonetheless play an important role within their congregations and communities in combatting sexual abuse and human trafficking.
Religious institutions should speak out against sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, and human trafficking and, by doing so, reduce stigma surrounding these topics. After experiencing trauma, some people turn to religion and spiritual institutions. As such, religious institutions should train their staff to look for signs of sexual abuse and trafficking and how to respond to a disclosure in a trauma-informed, survivor-centered way. Where there is power there is potential for exploitation, so religious institutions can and should leverage their positions of trust and influence to prevent sexual exploitation and protect victims.
This is an active investigation and the CSE Institute will continue to provide updates on this matter.
All views expressed herein are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law or of Villanova University.