Prostitution-related charges filed against a Virginia Beach megachurch pastor in 2021 may have been withdrawn as part of a deal reached with prosecutors, and not because of a lack of evidence, according to emails between police and prosecutors released Friday.
The disclosure comes nearly four months after Chesterfield County prosecutors abandoned their case against Rock Church Pastor John Blanchard while continuing to prosecute more than a dozen other men arrested in October 2021 during an undercover prostitution sting operation.
The email communications — and numerous other documents — were provided Friday to The Virginian-Pilot by Del. Tim Anderson, a Republican from Virginia Beach who’s been questioning why Blanchard’s charges were dismissed.
Emails between police and a prosecutor suggest the move was made in exchange for Blanchard undergoing a psychosexual examination and sex offender counseling.
Psychosexual examinations often are conducted on defendants charged with sex-related crimes. They’re done to evaluate the person’s sexual interests and see if they deviate from generally accepted sexual behavior. The evaluations also can help determine if a defendant is at risk of re-offending, and what treatment might be most effective.
Chesterfield County Commonwealth’s Attorney Stacey Davenport, who was elected in 2019, previously said the charges were withdrawn due to problems with the evidence. In a Jan. 13 statement, she said the decision was “based solely upon the law, the facts of the case, and the professional experience and ethical duties of the prosecutors.” In reference to attacks from Anderson about her handling of the case, Davenport wrote, “moral outrage is no substitute for evidence.”
But in one email exchange between a detective and Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Alexander Michev, the prosecutor assigned to the case, Michev suggested a deal had been worked out between Davenport and Blanchard’s lawyer. The name of the person with whom Michev was communicating is redacted from the document, but Anderson said it was a detective.
“The defense attorney (for Blanchard) has had some conversations with Stacey, and Defendant did the equivalent of a psychosexual (examination) and has been in sex offender related counseling. Based on all of that, it was nolle prossed this morning,” Michev wrote in the email.
Anderson said he obtained the emails and other information through a Freedom of Information Act request with Chesterfield County police.
Blanchard’s defense attorney, Noel Brooks, and Michev didn’t respond to requests for comment on Friday. A spokesperson for Davenport said she couldn’t comment because she recently referred the case to a special prosecutor — Brunswick County Commonwealth’s Attorney Lezlie Green — for further investigation.
Blanchard was one of 17 men arrested during an October 2021 police sting at a motel in Chesterfield County.
Police said Blanchard and the others had been communicating online with an undercover officer posing as a 17-year-old prostitute, and arranged to meet the person at the motel. All were charged with felony solicitation of prostitution; those who drove to the motel also were charged with using a vehicle to promote prostitution.
Blanchard and his wife, Robin, have been senior pastors of the non-denominational Rock Church since 2013. Blanchard initially stepped away from his role as a pastor after the charges were brought, but the church proclaimed he was “exonerated” and “cleared of all charges” after they were dismissed.
Court records show prosecutors chose to fully prosecute all the men except Blanchard and one other. Michev asked a judge in October to nolle prosequi — or withdraw — Blanchard’s charges, but didn’t offer an explanation.
The case wasn’t nolle prossed with prejudice, however, which means it can be refiled. Davenport announced during a Jan. 19 news conference that she’d recently received new information in the case and was referring it to a special prosecutor.
The documents released Friday show the new evidence is a video police obtained after executing a search warrant last month. Chesterfield County Police Chief Jeffery Katz wrote in a Jan. 17 email to Davenport that police learned about the video through a tip.
He also wrote that the video shows Blanchard “knowingly sought to engage in sex with an underage girl” when he showed up at the motel. The emails provided do not further describe what is seen or heard on the video, or where police got it.
Other email exchanges released Friday capture some of the frustration expressed amid internal discussions about the case. A detective reached out to Michev about a week before the Oct. 11 hearing when Blanchard’s charges were dismissed to see if it were still scheduled and whether he needed to be there. Michev responded, “It’s set for status — no one needs to be there.”
When the detective learned the charges had been nolle prossed, he emailed Michev again and asked for an explanation, the documents show.
“I don’t understand,” he wrote. “The majority of those arrested will have to do those things plus be convicted. What was different about him?”
An email received Jan. 20 by Chesterfield County Police Capt. Michael Breeden said the reason Michev gave for the charges being withdrawn was that Blanchard had a “built-in defense” because he didn’t acknowledge the age of the fictitious prostitute in text exchanges with the undercover detective, and he claimed he didn’t see the text about her age because he was driving. The name of the person who sent the email to Breeden is redacted from the document.
Chesterfield County police have acknowledged the men arrested in the sting weren’t told that the person they were communicating with was 17 until shortly before the men arrived at the motel. Some of the men backed out after learning the person’s age, but the 17 who were arrested did not.
The email goes on to say that when Michev was asked why his office didn’t proceed with Blanchard’s case as a solicitation of prostitution with an adult, which is a misdemeanor and was the way many of the other cases were handled, Michev said he didn’t think it was worth it.
“He (Michev) advised that they felt we wouldn’t get anything out of a misdemeanor conviction, and the better outcome was that Blanchard receive the sex offender counseling which contained components of a psychosexual evaluation,” the email said.
Anderson said he’s been pursuing additional information in the case over the past few months because he’s appalled by Blanchard’s behavior and at how Davenport has handled his case.
“This guy gets cut loose and comes back to Virginia Beach and proclaims he’s innocent and then he goes back in the pulpit,” Anderson said. “He drove from Virginia Beach to Chesterfield in a rental car to meet an under-aged girl for sex. That’s a big deal. It’s disgusting.”
As for Davenport, Anderson said, “She’s a Republican and it’s very offensive to me that we have a Republican acting this way. Normally, you see liberal prosecutors do stuff and we would rail about it and complain about it — but we have a Republican prosecutor lying and covering this up.”
Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com
