ARREST MADE: Pastor’s Son Charged with Child Sex Crimes; Draws Scrutiny to Life Church, Lt. Gov. Beckwith
By Sydney Byerly
The Indiana Citizen
October 24, 2025
FISHERS, Ind. — The son of Pastor Nathan Peternel — a longtime mentor and close ally of Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith — has been arrested on seven felony counts related to child sex crimes, according to law enforcement and court records.
Jonathan Wesley Peternel, 24, of Pendleton, was arrested Thursday following an investigation by the Hamilton County Metro Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Investigators said they received a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children indicating that Peternel had uploaded child sexual abuse material to Snapchat.
Peternel is the son of Nathan Peternel, the lead pastor for all Life Church campuses who hired Beckwith years ago to lead the church’s Noblesville campus, where Beckwith continues to serve as pastor while holding elected office. The elder Peternel also regularly attends special events held at Life Church’s Noblesville campus, where Beckwith leads the congregation, and could be seen during a screening of a conservative Christian documentary on “Title IX.” Nathan Peternel also co-hosts the conservative Christian podcast “Jesus, Sex & Politics” with Beckwith. The two have long described their work as an intersection of faith and governance, often using the podcast to discuss religion’s role in public policy and elections.
In a social media post from Nathan Peternel’s birthday party, Beckwith called Nathan, “one of my best friends and a spiritual brother in arms.” Also, Peternel was an elected Republican delegate to the June 2024 Indiana GOP convention in which Beckwith defeated gubernatorial nominee Mike Braun’s choice, State Rep. Julie McGuire. Peternal also contributed $100 to Beckwith’s campaign committee in March 2024.
Jeff Boggs, Beckwith’s new communications director, said Beckwith declined to respond to an inquiry from The Indiana Citizen. “The lieutenant governor is unable to comment on this pending case until he learns more information,” Boggs wrote in an email.
Nathan Peternel did not respond to messages seeking comment Friday. The Madison County Prosecutor’s Office, which is handling media inquiries in the case, did not immediately respond to messages.
A probable cause affidavit reviewed by The Indiana Citizen provides further detail about the investigation. On Sept. 10, 2025, detectives with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force served a search warrant at the Peternel residence on State Road 132 in Pendleton. According to the affidavit, both Nathan and Jonathan Peternel answered the door when officers arrived.
After Jonathan was read his Miranda rights, investigators noted that he identified himself as a member of the Indiana National Guard who works as a Blackhawk helicopter mechanic in Shelbyville and confirmed his phone number matched the CyberTip report. When told he was under investigation for child exploitation and possession of child sexual abuse material, Jonathan requested to speak with an attorney.
Detectives seized multiple laptops, iPads, tablets, cellphones, and storage devices from the home for forensic processing. In reviewing the data, investigators reported finding more than 200 files of suspected child sexual abuse material, including what they described as “sadomasochistic child abuse” and “photorealistic AI-generated photos of nude pregnant toddlers.” The affidavit also states that more than 50 photos and videos were located on Peternel’s phone that appeared to show his parents nude or engaged in sex acts.
According to court documents and a police release, investigators also discovered chat logs suggesting Peternel was distributing explicit material in a Snapchat group called “Diddy Disciples.” The group references rapper and music producer Sean “Diddy” Combs, who faced multiple civil lawsuits and federal investigations alleging sexual assault and trafficking earlier this year.
Peternel was charged with one count of child exploitation (Level 4 felony), two counts of possession of child sex abuse material (Level 5 felonies), and one count of possession of child sex abuse material (Level 6 felony). He pleaded not guilty during an initial hearing Thursday in Madison County Circuit Court. Although he told the court he planned to retain attorney Devin Norrick, outside legal counsel for the lieutenant governor’s office, Norrick told The Indiana Citizen on Friday that his firm, Adler Attorneys, has “no active role” in this case.
Christian podcast, “Jesus, Sex & Politics.” (Photo/Screenshot)
Across multiple episodes of “Jesus, Sex & Politics,” Beckwith and Peternel have frequently discussed sexual morality, pornography and child exploitation.
In a 2021 episode, “Stopping Sexual Assault and Sex Trafficking,” they interviewed a sexual assault survivor and a representative from Not Today, a foundation started by then-Colts coach Frank Reich and his wife, Linda, to combat child abuse and trafficking. Beckwith compared pornography’s addictive nature to cocaine and urged parents to monitor their children’s online activity, warning that even sharing explicit photos among minors can amount to exploitation.
A year later, in “I Was Once Transgender,” guest Walt Heyer described being sexually abused as a child, linking early trauma and exposure to pornography to lifelong emotional struggles. And in a 2023 episode, Beckwith and Peternel revisited the topic, calling pornography a pervasive threat that distorts intimacy and damages relationships. They described it as spiritually corrosive and harmful to both men and women, framing sexual relationships within marriage as a sacred expression meant to reflect God’s covenantal love.
Across the podcast discussions, Beckwith and Peternel have positioned sexual morality, abuse prevention, and the protection of children as central to their broader message that faith should guide cultural and political engagement.
Jonathan Peternel is being held at the Madison County Jail on a $25,000 bond. He remains in custody as of Friday, court records show.
According to the MyCase court portal, Jonathan Peternel is scheduled for a Status of Counsel hearing on Nov. 7, an attorney conference on Nov. 20, and a dispositional hearing preemptively set for Jan. 16, 2026.
Sydney Byerly is a political reporter who grew up in New Albany, Indiana. Before joining The Citizen, Sydney reported news for TheStatehouseFile.com and most recently managed and edited The Corydon Democrat & Clarion News in southern Indiana. She earned her bachelor’s in journalism at Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism (‘Sco Griz!).
The Indiana Citizen is a nonpartisan, nonprofit platform dedicated to increasing the number of informed and engaged Hoosier citizens. We are operated by the Indiana Citizen Education Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) public charity. For questions about the story, contact Marilyn Odendahl at marilyn.odendahl@indianacitizen.org.
Inmate Inquiry
Inmate Detail - Peternel, Jonathan Wesley
Demographic Information
- Peternel, Jonathan Wesley
- 429731
- 03/08/2001
- 24
- Male
- White
- 5' 9"
- 165.0 lbs
- Noblesville, Indiana 46060
10/23/2025 11:02 AMBooking History
2025-00004293
- 10/23/2025 9:58 AM
- Pre-Trial
- Minimum
- $25,000.00
- $0.00
- Madison County Sheriff
| Bond Number | Bond Type | Bond Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-00005576 | 10 Percent Only | $25,000.00 |
| Charges | Court Date | Court | Court Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Madison County Circuit Court 6 | 48C062510F402854 | |
| 2 | Madison County Circuit Court 6 | 48C062510F402854 | |
| 3 | Madison County Circuit Court 6 | 48C062510F402854 |
| Number | Charge Description | Offense Date | Docket Number | Sentence Date | Disposition | Disposition Date | Sentence Length | Crime Class | Arresting Agency | Attempt/Commit | Bond |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Child exploitation | 10/22/2025 12:00 AM | 48C062510F402854 | Madison County Sheriff | Commit/Completed | 2025-00005576 | |||||
| 2 | Possession of Child Pornography | 10/22/2025 12:00 AM | 48C062510F402854 | Madison County Sheriff | Commit/Completed | 2025-00005576 | |||||
| 1 | Possession of Child Pornography (F5) | 10/22/2025 12:00 AM | 48C062510F402854 | Madison County Sheriff | Commit/Completed | 2025-00005576 |
Multiple sex scandals are rocking the MAGA faith community
Many Christian nationalists and fellow evangelicals in the MAGA movement have been known to claim dominion over American society, which they’ve derided for purportedly being run by “godless” leftists and sex predators.
And yet, even a cursory look at some of the headlines that have emerged from the conservative evangelical movement in just the past month suggests the movement is dealing with its own crisis of alleged perversion — one that strikes at the godly ethos its members often tout and use to browbeat liberals.
Pastor and former Trump adviser Robert Morris pleaded guilty to child sex abuse charges at the start of October.
Less than a week later, Covenant Eyes — an anti-porn company that’s been praised by House Speaker Mike Johnson and is responsible for an app that lets users allow their friends or family to monitor their internet habits — released a statement saying it was “devastated” by news reports that its founder’s 38-year-old stepson, Thomas Wideman, had been arrested and charged with child sex abuse this summer. Wideman’s charges include four counts of using computers to commit a crime, three counts of child sexually abusive activity and one count of accosting children for immoral purposes, and he has not yet entered a plea.
His lawyer, Joseph Brugnoli, did not immediately respond to MSNBC’s request for comment.
In another story just last week, authorities in Indiana arrested a 24-year-old member of the state’s National Guard, Jonathan Peternel, on charges of keeping child sexual abuse material on his phone, according to Fox 59 TV in Indianapolis. Peternel has pleaded not guilty to one count of child exploitation and three counts of possession of child sexual abuse material. The Indiana Citizen explained how the story threatens to draw scrutiny toward the Life Church in Indiana, where Peternel’s father, Nathan Peternel, is the lead pastor and co-hosts a podcast with Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith called “Jesus, Sex & Politics.”
Life Church hasn’t responded to MSNBC’s requests for comment from church officials or Nathan Peternel on the arrest.
Beckwith’s office told MSNBC that he “became aware of the allegations on Oct. 23 after the arrest was made” but declined to comment while the investigation is pending.
Beckwith, as it turns out, is also dealing with separate claims stemming from a grand jury investigation into whether staffers in his office shared a deepfake porn video. He told Fox 59 his office had looked into the claim and found no video, further saying the allegation had “the characteristics of a witch hunt.”
On top of all that, The Washington Post reported last Thursday on allegations compiled by the Anglican Church in North America, a conservative offshoot of the Episcopal Church that severed its ties after Episcopalians voted to confirm the denomination’s first openly gay bishop in 2003. The Post’s story highlights Anglican Church in North America members’ accusations that an archbishop sexually harassed a woman in his office and that a bishop allowed men with histories of violence or sexual misconduct to worship or hold staff or leadership positions in his diocese.
The archbishop, Stephen Wood, denied the allegations in comments to the Post. The bishop, Stewart Ruch III, declined through a diocese spokeswoman to comment to the Post, citing a church court directive against commenting to the media as he awaits the verdict of an internal trial.
It should probably go without saying that these stories don’t reflect well on a conservative Christian movement fueled by evangelicals who think it is their destiny to run American society. Donald Trump has also told conservative evangelicals the country would be better off if they were in control.
Call me crazy, but it seems the conservative evangelical movement should at least have to clear up some of these sexual misconduct and abuse issues before they worry about increasing their influence in the U.S.
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