Former ‘My Faith Votes’ CEO Jason Yates Pleads Guilty to Possessing Child Pornography
Jason Yates, former CEO of My Faith Votes, has pleaded guilty to eight felony counts of child pornography possession involving minors under 14.
Written By EEW Magazine Online News Editors
Jason Christopher Yates pleads guilty to child porn possession.
Key Facts:
Jason Yates, former CEO of My Faith Votes, pleaded guilty to eight felony counts of possessing child pornography involving minors under 14.
A relative discovered a hard drive in Yates’ home office in July 2024 and turned it over to police, leading to the investigation and charges.
Weeks before the discovery, Yates wrote an op-ed condemning “sexually deviant” messages aimed at children; it was later removed by The Washington Times after his arrest.
Jason Christopher Yates, former CEO of the Christian political advocacy group My Faith Votes, has pleaded guilty to eight felony counts of possessing child pornography involving minors under the age of 14.
Yates, 52, entered the plea in Dakota County District Court in Minnesota, according to a report by the Christian Post, which first covered the development. Each count carries a potential penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Authorities began investigating Yates after a relative discovered an external hard drive containing explicit materials in his home office in July 2024. The relative turned the device over to law enforcement. Investigators reportedly found more than 100 sexually explicit images of minors. According to the criminal complaint, Yates acknowledged the images were his but refused to provide passwords to encrypted files.
The complaint also states that Yates had a previous child pornography conviction in Illinois that was later expunged.
Yates served as CEO of My Faith Votes until August 2024. Following the discovery and charges, the organization removed his profile from its website and named board member Chris Sadler as acting CEO. The nonprofit, known for encouraging Christians to vote based on faith-based values, released a statement at the time acknowledging Yates’ removal but did not reference the criminal investigation.
“In early August 2024, the My Faith Votes board of directors separated Jason Yates from My Faith Votes and board member Chris Sadler assumed the position of Acting CEO. Over the last three months Chris has been working with the dedicated My Faith Votes team to encourage millions of Christians to vote, pray and think biblically about this election in America,” a spokesperson for My Faith Votes told Religion News Service (RNS) in an email.
In a development that has drawn widespread scrutiny, just weeks before the hard drive was turned over to police, Yates authored an opinion piece for The Washington Times, calling on Christians to resist what he described as “sexually deviant” messaging targeting children—primarily related to LGBTQ issues.
After his arrest, however, the publication removed the column and replaced it with the following statement: “Editor’s note: The Washington Times has removed the content of this article after the author’s arrest on eight counts of possession of child pornography.”
Yates’ sentencing is scheduled for a later date.