Jason Yates, former CEO of My Faith Votes, charged with child porn possession
Former My Faith Votes CEO Jason C. Yates, whose organization is known for getting conservative Christians involved in politics, has been charged with possessing child pornography.
Yates was charged last month in district court in McLeod County, Minnesota, with eight felony counts of possession of child pornography. Each charge carries a punishment of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $10,000.
According to court records, a witness told authorities in July that a family member of Yates “accidentally discovered” a hard drive that contained child sexual abuse material “in the office of Jason Yates.”
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“The contents included over 100 sexually explicit images of children,” noted the district court document, with several of the photos believed to be of minors younger than 10.
Yates was released Monday “on his own recognizance,” with a condition of his release being that he not have any contact with individuals younger than 18, reported Ministry Watch.
Yates was listed as the CEO of My Faith Votes on the organization's IRS Form 990 filed last year, according to Ministry Watch, with articles on the website having been published under his byline as recently as July.
At present, he is not listed on the organization’s website as part of the leadership. Instead, the “About” page identifies former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as honorary national chairman and Sealy Yates, a lawyer related to Jason Yates, as founder and president.
Dr. Ben Carson, an author and conservative activist, previously served as honorary chairman until he assumed the role of Secretary for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under the first Trump administration.
My Faith Votes was "founded in 2015 by Sealy Yates to reach millions of Christians to vote and stand for biblical values,” according to its website.
“We recognized there are 90 million Christians in America, yet millions do not vote. And for that reason, My Faith Votes was created to provide relevant voting information for every single election in America and to equip Christians to act on their faith.”
In addition to his work with My Faith Votes, Yates occasionally contributed syndicated op-eds to The Christian Post, with his last piece being published in August 2022.
