Wisconsin pastor fired for allegedly sending himself nude photos of congregant’s wife
Editor's note: Warning, this article contains graphic descriptions of images.
Gabriel Mills, a father of five and husband who recently celebrated 20 years of marriage, was recently fired from his job as guest experience pastor at the Kenosha campus of the multisite Journey Church for allegedly sending himself nude photos of a female congregant from her husband’s cell phone.
Mills, 41, was charged Wednesday with two counts of capturing an intimate representation, which is a felony, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. At a court hearing that same day, his bail was set at $7,500.
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The complaint against Mills, shared on Facebook by the Kenosha County District Attorney’s Office, said the female congregant, identified as CMB, and her husband, identified as TAB, and an employee of the Racine Police Department, attended a life group meeting at Mills’ home with their children and other church members on Sept. 22.
At around 8 p.m. during the meeting, she told investigators she heard her husband ask Mills to help download an audiobook application on his cell phone, later revealed as Audible. She said she went downstairs to get her children, and about 10 minutes later, she came back up and saw Mills holding his phone close to his chest so it could not be seen.
She said as she talked to Mills, he lowered his hand and phone to his side, and she could see a sexually suggestive photo of her.
She said she recognized the image as a photo she had taken of herself and had only ever shared with her husband. She said she became furious about how her private photo had ended up on the pastor’s phone and wondered what other images of her he might have.
“CMB stated that she tapped on the Defendant’s phone which relit up the picture of her in the thong underwear and the defendant looked down at his phone and saw what CMB could see, the defendant then turned ‘white as a ghost’ and began to tremble and apologize to her repeatedly,” the complaint states.
She said she went and got her children from the basement of the pastor’s house, and he followed her stuttering, begging her not to tell his wife, Serah. The female congregant said Mills blocked her exit on the stairs and tried to tell her the photo she saw was his wife. She stated that she knew the pastor was lying because she recognized herself and the background of the photo. She noted that Mills’ wife also has lighter skin than her.
The congregant and her husband subsequently filed a complaint with the local police. Police cited evidence showing that Mills used AirDrop to transfer two explicit photos from the husband's phone to his.
Investigators described one photo as showing “an unclothed woman’s vagina/groin area” and another showing “a woman pulling up a reddish sweater and exposing her left breast and nipple to the camera.”
Investigators noted that “in both photos the face of the woman is not visible, but CMB was able to positively identify both of those photos as ones she had sent solely to TAB (husband) about 6 months prior.”
“Officer Morton was able to find that the Defendant had also utilized the Airdrop application on his phone on September 22 at 8:20, 8:21 and 8:22 p.m. The times of the Airdrop being utilized on TAB’s cell phone and also being utilized on the Defendant’s cell phone appear to [...] confirm that media was sent between TAB’s cell phone and the defendant’s cell phone on September 22 consistent with the reports of TAB and CMB,” the complaint says.
Mills was arrested on Sept. 23 and stopped talking to investigators after that. Investigators say they met with Journey Church Lead Pastor Kevin Taylor, who informed them that he was notified of the allegations on Sept. 28, and he spoke with Mills.
Taylor said he directed Mills not to attend church on Sept. 29. After a meeting with Mills that day, however, Taylor concluded that the allegations were “believable enough” and was a breach of the church’s code of conduct. Mills was terminated.
When investigators asked Taylor to provide a statement about what Mills had admitted to him, the Journey Church lead pastor said he was advised by his attorneys not to provide a statement.
In a statement to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, however, Taylor expressed shock at the allegations against Mills.
"This news has come as a great shock to our church and school community," Taylor said. "We hold our leaders to the highest standards of moral conduct, and any violation of these values is deeply troubling. We terminated Gabe’s employment upon learning of the allegations that led to his arrest.
On his social media accounts, Mills promotes himself as a wholesome family man.
In a post on Instagram in 2021, he talked about the joys of being a father.
“One of my greatest joys in life is being a dad. It’s not always easy but I love it. I love building and creating and dreaming with my kiddos. I love inspiring them to think creatively. And if I’m not doing that who will?” he asked.
In August, he also celebrated his 20th wedding anniversary with his wife, according to another post on Instagram.
“20 years. Serah, you are even more wonderful and beautiful today. So many amazing days together. And yes, a few hard days. But I have enjoyed it all. I wouldn’t change any of it. 20 years down,” he shared on Aug. 7. “Here’s to happily ever after more. I love you [...] Thanks for doing life with me.”
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