Church leader charged with sexual assault
A 61-year-old former youth leader at St. Matthews United Methodist Church in Annandale was arrested July 20 for multiple sexual assaults against a juvenile, the Fairfax County Police Department reports.
A member of the victim’s family notified police last month that Thomas Weaver assaulted a juvenile.
Detectives executed a search of Weaver’s residence in Fairfax, where they found numerous images of child pornography.
Police charged Weaver with 20 counts of possession of child pornography and five counts of indecent liberties of a minor by a custodian. He is being held at the Adult Detention Center without bond.
Weaver joined St, Matthews United Methodist Church, at 8617 Little River Turnpike, in 2001. On multiple occasions since 2020, Weaver coerced the victim to meet him in a secluded area in Annandale. Once there, Weaver sexually assaulted the victim.
Weaver had periodically been a leader in youth activities but has not held that position since 2020.
St. Matthews has been fully cooperating with the police. The church also notified Fairfax County Child Protective Services with concerns about Weaver.
Detectives believe there may be additional victims, as Weaver possibly worked as a youth leader at other churches in the past.
Anyone with information about this case or believe Weaver had inappropriate contact with them or their child should call the police department’s Major Crimes Bureau at 703-246-7800, option 3. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Solvers.
Is this one of those “groomers” I keep hearing about from a certain segment of society?
Yes. This is a woke church. 100% falls into the groomer category. Look at their website.
Polly, don’t make accusations about a church you don’t belong to or have never attended! These sex addicts hide what they do very well that you would never suspect them. They become such a strong member and extremely involved in the many activities of the church that you would never suspect they do what they do.
So, sleepy churches are where its at? Yeah, no. From what I see, each church has its groomers. Thats how you all kill a religion.
Hey Ron . . exactly what “certain segment of society” are you talking about??? Do you by any chance mean parents who are protecting their children?
If you want to protect your kids, keep them away from churches.
Nope. Send them to church, but keep them away from anything “woke.” Wokeness is a plague.
We get it, you are trying to troll as much as possible, likely under many names here.
Says “GT”
I have one comment on this posting, thank you very much.
Right, because predators don’t exist anywhere in our society except churches. *Eye roll
It’s absolutely disgusting that the comments about sexual assaults against a minor have gone straight into partisan political barbs.
We’re talking about a child–or many children–whose life has been turned upside down by someone they thought they could trust. They are living with the trauma and emotional scars while you bicker and spew lies crafted to score votes.
My heart goes out to the youth mentioned here and their family, as well as other victims. I wish you all healing and hope that your abuser will meet with justice.
Kim D.,
Thank you for coming down (from on high) to deliver your “thoughts and prayers” post. I’m sure the families of the victims are so grateful after having read it.
Ed
Thoughts and prayers.
Seriously though, you are right, but at the same time, if we are really concerned about these types of things happening, it shouldn’t go unmentioned that the churchy types, the religious right have for a long time both explicitly and implicitly enabled child abuse.
Just today there is a long article in the WaPo about the right wing rejection of Comprehensive Sexual Education that right wingers says grooms children to be sexual assault victims, but everyone of any expertise otherwise says decreases the likelyhood of children falling prey to abusers.
Well thats the right wing M.O. If they can keep folks from knowing about such things, then they can use or abuse or manipulate them without them being even aware that it exists. Best way to stop these things? Educating them so they know what to look for. Kind of the same in all areas of society. The crybaby comments about wokeness are basically because one person on TV told them that can be the new bad buzzword. When what it really means is an awareness and understanding of the differences in people and cultures. Im happy to be more aware.
As for this minor, I applaud them for saying something to a parent. And predators cloaked in a bible, or a flag, or a weapon need to go away. Its disgusting how empowered and entitled over others they feel these days. I can see it in the comments. {penny}
This comment section is gross. I grew up around this man as a child attending this church, and I thought he was a friend. Everyone loved his energy until this event and tons stopped attending. It tore apart what little an already struggling church had.
My own brother has scary accounts of encounters with him and another adult still leading youth there to my knowledge. These comments echo what my dad said about it, that the church is too “woke” or “corrupted” for banning him. It’s concerning that this is where some people go immediately upon hearing a tragedy like this. He was a sick man who molested and got off to little kids for years. Don’t pretend he’s being mistreated or misrepresented.