Fired megachurch pastor’s second arrest involved friend’s wife

By Leonard Blairsenior reporter Tuesday October 15, 2024

Gabriel Mills, the recently fired guest experience pastor of the Journey Church multisite campus in Kenosha, Wisconsin, who was arrested for allegedly sending nude photos of a female congregant, has been arrested a second time for taking intimate photos of a friend’s wife without permission in 2023.

The friend’s wife, identified in a criminal complaint cited by Fox 6 as Jane Doe 1, came forward to authorities on October 4.

According to the complaint, the second victim’s husband told prosecutors he considered Mills, a 41-year-old married father of five, a “friend” after they met at church. He said they often spent time together, including the day before Mills’ first arrest on Sept. 30 for allegedly sending each other nude photos of another female congregant from her husband’s cellphone .

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Jane Doe 1’s husband said that during his meeting with Mills on September 29, the fired Journey Church pastor admitted to searching the man’s work laptop to access his cell phone, according to Fox 6. Mills admitted to sending intimate photos of the man’s wife to himself. During this conversation, Mills also told Jane Doe 1’s husband that he thought he would go to prison.

Mills’ bail for the latter charge was set at $5,000. That was $2,500 less than the $7,500 he was charged for the first case. Details from the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department show Mills posted bond for this second charge on October 10.

The former Journey Church pastor was arrested on the latest charge last Wednesday, just seconds after pleading not guilty at a preliminary hearing to two counts of capturing an intimate depiction of a congregant .

“This morning, Gabriel Mills was arrested following his preliminary hearing. A new complainant came forward after reading the original press release. Detectives were able to find evidence on Gabriel’s phone that supported the allegations made against him by the complainant,” Lt. Josh Hecker of the Kenosha Police Department said in a statement cited by the Kenosha County Eye.

The initial complaint against Mills, shared on Facebook by the Kenosha County District Attorney’s Office, stated that a congregant, identified as CMB, and her husband, who is also an employee of the Racine Police Department, identified as TAB, had attended a life group meeting. at Mills’ home with their children and other church members on September 22.

Around 8 p.m. during the meeting, she told investigators she heard her husband ask Mills to help him download an audiobook app to his cellphone, later revealed to be Audible. She said she went downstairs to pick up her children, and about 10 minutes later she returned and saw Mills holding his phone close to his chest so he couldn’t be seen.

She said that while she was talking to Mills, he lowered his hand and phone to the side and she could see a sexually suggestive photo of herself.

She said she recognized the image as a photo she had taken of herself and only shared with her husband. She said she became furious at how her private photo ended up on the pastor’s phone and wondered what other images of her he might have.

The faithful and her husband then filed a complaint with the local police. Police cited evidence showing Mills used AirDrop to transfer two explicit photos from her husband’s phone to her own.

A spokesperson for Journey Church told WISN 12 that church leaders are “aware of the ongoing investigation and are cooperating with authorities.”

Police are investigating if there are other victims.