Families flee embattled Life Church amid abuse reports, child porn arrest
Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith said he’s sticking by lead pastor Nathan Peternel and Life Church, which is deeply intertwined with Beckwith's state office
24sight’s full coverage of the Peternel church scandal linked at end of story
Indiana’s powerful Life Church is bleeding families as lead pastor Nathan Peternel and his employee and friend, Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, continue trying to tamp down the fallout from reports of verbal sexual assault and a child pornography arrest.
Families who have left the church since Peternel’s son was arrested on seven felony counts of owning and trafficking in child sexual abuse material and reports of Peternel demanding minors tell him graphic details of their intimate relationships have estimated at least 100 congregants have left the church’s largest campus, which is led by Beckwith.
Peternel and his staff, including his family, have been aggressively trying to stop families from leaving the church.
For weeks, congregants demanded to know why Peternel’s son had more than 50 videos of his parents naked or having sex on his cellphone. In a message two Sundays ago, Peternel accused his son of getting high and hacking into his account, and said it was a mistake for him and his wife to film themselves. But behind the scenes, Peternel has been giving varying answers of who was responsible for filming the videos.
Beckwith, like Peternel, has not commented on the reports from 24sight News that Peternel has regularly demanded minors talk about sex with him and that he repeatedly discussed with children his own intimate relations with his wife.
Peternel did not return a request for comment for this story, and has refused to respond to any requests for comment from 24sight News for two months now.
The cascade of stories of abuse from Peternel’s decades-long rise to power have pushed Peternel and his team into damage control, while refusing to respond to reports. Peternel’s staff has been pressuring congregants with questions to come in and meet with him privately, while Peternel and other pastors have been aggressively going after families who leave the church pressuring them to return.
In one meeting recently, Peternel explained that the reason he demanded a 17-year-old girl and her fiancé tell him how they have sex was because he wanted to tell the fiancé to make sure his private parts were clean while intimate, according to an account of the meeting provided to 24sight News.
Meanwhile, Peternel’s staff have deleted some of the most disturbing content produced by Peternel and Beckwith. In an online discussion, one of Nathan’s top deputies in the church admitted to deleting graphic podcasts, but later deleted her admission that she deleted the podcasts, according to people familiar with the discussion.
At the end of November, the head of the church’s youth ministry sent an urgent message requesting that all volunteers go through mandatory reporter training for spotting child abuse, according to a person familiar with the missive.
It’s been a rapid decline for the Pentecostal church plugged directly into state government.
A few years ago, Peternel and Life Church were forging a close relationship with the nonprofit created by the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts and his wife to fight child abuse and sex trafficking, kNot Today, hosting a high-dollar fundraiser for the group at Indianapolis mega-mansion, the Lucas Estate, and featuring the group’s president in a video interview.
In a statement to 24sight News, kNot Today stated that it does not partner with Life Church or any other religious organization and said it could not comment on any active investigations, but expressed its support the child crimes task force whose investigation led to the charges against Peternel’s son.
Beckwith, for his part, has asked congregants not to ask any questions and accused “demonic enemies” of attacking Peternel.
“When you’re bold and you’re, you stand for truth, you’re going to be attacked, and you’ll be attacked by the demonic enemies,” Beckwith said in a message two Sundays ago. “Lord, we make mistakes. We trip up. There are things we could do better, Lord. And I just thank you for Nathan’s heart. Just to say, hey, if there’s anything there that I’ve owned or that I’ve done, I own it, Lord, but we know Your grace is sufficient for us, and so Lord, we pray right now for Nathan’s family.
A local Republican powerbroker, Ray Adler, whose law firm represents Life Church and provides the official general counsel for the lieutenant governor’s office, said he could not comment on any goings on of Peternel or the church.
In his first court appearance, Peternel’s son said he would be represented by one of Adler’s lawyers, who is himself facing a separate criminal investigation for watching a deepfake porn of a state lawmaker’s wife in the lieutenant governor’s office. But that lawyer, Devin Norrick, told 24sight News that nobody from the Adler law firm would be representing Peternel’s son.
Peternel’s son was granted a public defender by the court last month.
This past Sunday, Lt. Gov. Beckwith announced at Life Church’s largest campus they had canceled their 9 a.m. service because of snow, but still hosted the 11 a.m. service. During the service Beckwith preached that he was fighting “wokeness” and communism. Afterward, Beckwith’s brother, who is also a pastor at the church, announced that an additional service at Life Church’s Eagle Creek location had been canceled.
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The “Jesus, Sex and Politics” investigation:
Beckwith adviser was with son in September when police executed warrant in child porn case - 10/24/25
Beckwith adviser Peternel responds to son’s child porn charges in Sunday video - 10/26/25
AUDIO: Nathan Peternel church message on sex videos, son’s arrest - 10/31/25
Peternel pried teen girl about sex life in closed-door ‘counseling’, woman says - 11/6/25
Beckwith adviser’s son gets public defender as church scandal grows - 11/10/25
Peternel says he can’t be fired by church board - 11/19/25
Peternel says son hacked sex videos of him and wife while high - 12/7/25
Indiana deepfake porn scandal stories:
Topless deepfake video roils Indiana office, lawmaker’s wife targeted, per sources - 8/2/25
Indy prosecutor probes topless deepfake, Haggard blasts ‘pornographic smear’ of his wife - 8/5/25
BREAKING: Lt. Gov. spokesman quits amid deepfake probe - 8/7/25
Lawmaker whose wife was targeted launching Congressional bid - 8/11/25
Lt. Gov.’s office adopts new employee handbook, Gov. calls in Beckwith for meeting - 8/14/25