‘Thank you Jesus’ sign creator charged with child sex abuse as ministry removes all references to him

The co-creator of the favored “Thank You Jesus” yard indicators that increase cash for Christian teams has been charged with youngster intercourse crimes.

Lucas Hunt, 25, from Asheboro, North Carolina, was arrested and charged Tuesday with one rely of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor, based on jail data from the Randolph County Sheriff’s Workplace.

Hunt is alleged to have obtained an express video of two underage ladies, sheriff’s deputies stated in his arrest warrant.

Hunt — who created the favored signal when he was an adolescent — was arrested following a web based tip from the Nationwide Heart for Lacking and Exploited Kids, jail data present.

Officers from the Invictus Job Power — a cross-county initiative that investigates web crimes in opposition to youngsters — started investigating the case final month, earlier than figuring out Hunt as a suspect.

He was held within the Randolph County Detention Heart on a $75,000 safe bond and appeared in Randolph County District Court docket on Wednesday, based on the Sheriff’s Workplace.

Throughout his first court docket look, Hunt informed the choose he understood the fees and plans to rent an legal professional, CBS 17 experiences. His subsequent court docket look is scheduled for March 19.

Hunt gained fame in 2016 after he started promoting yellow yard indicators with the phrases “Thank You Jesus” written on them in a childlike scrawl, and by 2017, he had offered 100,000, spawning a nationwide motion, the Thank You Jesus Ministry, experiences The Information & Observer.

All of the proceeds from the gross sales would go to native Christian organizations.

In 2014, Hunt began placing up indicators studying “Jesus is the rationale for the season,” in his hometown of Asheboro, earlier than turning into a camp counselor for a bunch of 12 youngsters the next 12 months.

“I learn the Bible to them and led them all through the week. I noticed them develop,” Hunt informed the Seven Lake Insider in April 2017.

Round Easter 2016, he shortened his indicators to learn merely, “Thank You Jesus,” which turned a mainstay of entrance yards throughout the US.

Greater than 250,000 of the indicators — which begin at $10 — have now been offered, together with automobile magnets, backyard flags, and bracelets, based on the motion’s web site.

Hunt’s identify has since been faraway from the Ministry’s web site, and their board is assembly quickly to debate his future, Thank You Jesus Mission president Constance Frazier — who cofounded the motion with Hunt after they have been each 16 — informed FOX8.

“Thank You Jesus has all the time been about multiple particular person; it’s about individuals who love Jesus and wish to present their appreciation. Though we can’t touch upon the felony fees in opposition to Lucas Hunt, we will share that he blessed 1000’s of individuals by the Thank You Jesus indicators,” Frazier informed the outlet.