Futures Church Youth Pastor Daniel Menelaou arrested for possession of child porn

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Monday, March 17, 2025

Officers at Futures Church headquartered in Australia have been left in shock final Wednesday after Daniel Menelaou, a youth pastor with the Alpharetta, Georgia, campus of the worldwide megachurch, was arrested and charged with possession of kid pornography.

Arrest information from the Roswell Police Division lists six counts of possession “or management any materials depicting minor in sexually express conduct,” towards Menelaou who started working on the Alpharetta campus of the church in August 2023, in accordance with his LinkedIn profile.

A report from Fox5 mentioned Roswell Police and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation raided 28-year-old Menelaou’s residence after receiving a cybertip from the Nationwide Heart for Lacking and Exploited Kids.

“In the course of the course of that search warrant, we seized a number of digital units that shall be analyzed for extra proof,” Roswell Police Officer Tim Lupo instructed the information outlet.

Investigators mentioned the youth pastor, who additionally labored as a pupil mentor at Temple Christian School in Australia previous to his work in Georgia, uploaded a number of movies that “depict a minor engaged in sexually express conduct” and shared the pictures utilizing the messenger app referred to as Kik. 

“Our hearts are heavy as we share heartbreaking information with you. In current days, one in all our youth [pastors] working abroad, Daniel Menelaou, was arrested and charged with possession of supplies depicting minors in sexually express content material. Such as you, we’re deeply shocked, grieved, and blindsided by this information. We additionally need to be completely clear that these fees don’t have any connection to anybody in our church group,” wrote Pastor Tony Cornbridge of Futures Church in Australia.

“We perceive that that is troublesome to course of, and our hearts exit to all these affected, in addition to Emma and their households. In moments like these, we lean into the grace, knowledge, and justice of God, trusting Him to deliver therapeutic, readability, and luxury.”

Futures Church, which is previously Influencers Church, is a Pentecostal church affiliated with the Assemblies of God denomination. In keeping with the church’s web site, it has 16 campuses situated in Australia, the US and Indonesia.

Reacting to the fees, one other spokesperson for the church mentioned in a press release to The Christian Submit that they condemned Menelaou’s actions in “the strongest attainable phrases.”

“Till his arrest, we had no prior data of any allegations or indication of wrongdoing. The main points outlined within the arrest warrant are deeply disturbing and stand in complete opposition to our unwavering dedication to defending youngsters,” the spokesperson mentioned.

“Our hearts exit before everything to any victims who’ve been harmed. We stay dedicated to standing with all survivors of abuse, significantly youngsters, whose struggling ought to by no means be ignored or minimized,” the spokesperson continued.

“Futures Church has a zero-tolerance coverage relating to any type of abuse. The second we grew to become conscious of Daniel Menelaou’s arrest, we positioned him on fast administrative go away. Nevertheless, the total extent of those fees was unknown to us till the previous few hours and his place has now been terminated. Allow us to be unequivocally clear this habits is reprehensible and has no place in our church.”