Second arrest of fired megachurch pastor involved intimate photos of friend’s wife
Gabriel Mills, the recently fired guest experience pastor at the Kenosha, Wisconsin, campus of the multisite Journey Church, who was arrested for allegedly sending himself nude photos of a female congregant, was 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 Oct. 4.
According to the complaint, the second victim’s husband told prosecutors that 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 was first arrested on Sept. 30 for allegedly sending himself nude photos of another female congregant from her husband’s cell phone.
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Jane Doe 1’s husband said during his meeting with Mills on Sept. 29, the fired Journey Church pastor admitted to searching the man's work laptop to get access to his cellphone, according to Fox 6. Mills admitted to sending intimate photos of the man's wife to himself. During that conversation, Mills also told Jane Doe 1's husband that he believed he would go to jail.
Mills' bond for this latest charge was set at $5,000. It was $2,500 less than the $7,500 he was charged for the first case. Details from the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department show that Mills posted bond for this second charge on Oct. 10.
The former Journey Church pastor was arrested for the latest charge last Wednesday, just seconds after he pleaded not guilty at a preliminary hearing to two counts of capturing an intimate representation of the congregant.
"This morning Gabriel Mills was arrested after his preliminary hearing. A new complainant came forward after reading the original media release. Detectives were able to locate evidence on Gabriel's phone that substantiated the claims 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, said a female congregant, identified as CMB, and her husband, who is also an employee of the Racine Police Department, identified as TAB, 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 app 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 that 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.
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.
A spokesperson for Journey Church told WISN 12 that the church leaders are "aware of the ongoing investigation and are cooperating with authorities."
Police are investigating if there are additional victims.
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