Ohio pastor who called LGBTQ+ books a ‘health risk’ sentenced for child sex crimes

Silas Shelton, a church pastor from Clinton County, Ohio, was sentenced to prison Monday for sex crimes against a child that occurred in 2019. He was arrested in October of last year and charged with multiple felonies.Supporters of both the victim and Shelton filled the courtroom, anxiously anticipating the judge’s ruling, as reported by local tri-state CBS affiliate WKRC. However, statements by Shelton’s supporters and his attorney claiming he was a good family man and a pillar of the community didn’t carry much weight with Judge Andrew McCoy, who ultimately imposed the maximum sentence.Prosecuting attorney Brian Shidaker explained to the court that Shelton, 48, took advantage of the victim due to her impressionable age, his close relationship with her family, and his leading role in the church. He’d even arranged a job for the victim, apparently in an attempt to be alone with her.“[Shelton] pulled off on a wooded back road with her and climbed on top of her,” Shidaker said. “On April 20, at the plea hearing, in this courtroom, he admitted those facts were true.”The dark irony of Shelton committing such a heinous crime against a child is that he’d previously claimed LGBTQ+ themed books were harmful to children. In 2023, he spoke in front of the Little Miami Local School District’s board of education, complaining about the inclusion of Alice Oseman’s bestselling young adult graphic novel Heartstopper at his 12-year-old daughter’s school book fair. Shelton claimed that exposing students to LGBTQ+ books wasn’t “a religion matter ... it’s a health risk. It’s mental health.”"I don’t think kids should ever question their sexuality. I don’t think kids should ever explore their sexuality,” Shelton said at the board meeting. “I don’t think any of that stuff ever ought to be in our school, but [my daughter] come home asking me why certain books were in that book fair, which were pertaining to books of gay. One of them was Heartstop