Ohio pastor who called LGBTQ+ books a ‘health risk’ sentenced for child sex crimes

Silas Shelton, a church pastor from Clinton County, Ohio, was sentenced to prison Monday for sex crimes against a child that occurred in 2019. He was arrested in October of last year and charged with multiple felonies.

Supporters of both the victim and Shelton filled the courtroom, anxiously anticipating the judge’s ruling, as reported by local tri-state CBS affiliate WKRC. However, statements by Shelton’s supporters and his attorney claiming he was a good family man and a pillar of the community didn’t carry much weight with Judge Andrew McCoy, who ultimately imposed the maximum sentence.

Prosecuting attorney Brian Shidaker explained to the court that Shelton, 48, took advantage of the victim due to her impressionable age, his close relationship with her family, and his leading role in the church. He’d even arranged a job for the victim, apparently in an attempt to be alone with her.

“[Shelton] pulled off on a wooded back road with her and climbed on top of her,” Shidaker said. “On April 20, at the plea hearing, in this courtroom, he admitted those facts were true.”

The dark irony of Shelton committing such a heinous crime against a child is that he’d previously claimed LGBTQ+ themed books were harmful to children.

In 2023, he spoke in front of the Little Miami Local School District’s board of education, complaining about the inclusion of Alice Oseman’s bestselling young adult graphic novel Heartstopper at his 12-year-old daughter’s school book fair. Shelton claimed that exposing students to LGBTQ+ books wasn’t “a religion matter ... it’s a health risk. It’s mental health.”

"I don’t think kids should ever question their sexuality. I don’t think kids should ever explore their sexuality,” Shelton said at the board meeting. “I don’t think any of that stuff ever ought to be in our school, but [my daughter] come home asking me why certain books were in that book fair, which were pertaining to books of gay. One of them was Heartstopper, which is where a gay boy pressures a straight kid into kissing him."

"I don’t understand why we have this kind of stuff in our libraries, in our book fairs,” added Shelton. “I’ll tell you, I got sick reading that stuff today.”

At Shelton’s sentencing earlier this week, McCoy noted that his complete lack of remorse or accountability helped to justify ordering the maximum sentence for the felonies, which included rape, sexual battery, and unlawful sexual contact with a minor.

“When you take absolutely no accountability for your actions, you demonstrate no remorse,” McCoy said. “You choose rather to blame the victim and claim that you, incredulously, claim that you were the victim of abuse at her home, a 14-year-old child.”

The victim and her father also addressed the court. The victim said there is no sentence that the judge could impose that could give back what Shelton has taken from her.

Shelton was sentenced to 15 years in prison and must be registered as a Tier II sex offender for the next 25 years.