Former pastor of Jimmy Carter’s Baptist church arrested for child solicitation crimes
A former pastor of Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia, where former President Jimmy Carter had long been a member before his death on Dec. 29, has been arrested in Volusia County, Florida, on child sexting charges.
Jeffery Summers, 52, was taken into custody as part of “Operation Full Throttle,” an undercover sting aimed at targeting suspected child predators.
Authorities from the Port Orange Police Department reported that Summers was among 17 individuals arrested during the operation, WALB reported.
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Summers, believing he was communicating with a 14-year-old boy, had been using the internet and a cell phone to solicit unlawful sexual activity. Instead, he was conversing with undercover officers posing as minors.
According to the incident report, Summers knowingly engaged in obscene communication and traveled intending to meet the individual he believed to be a minor.
Summers now faces two felony charges, including traveling to meet after using a computer to lure a child and obscene communication with a minor.
Additional charges include the use of a computer to solicit or lure a child.
Police documents also identified Summers as an employee of Horizon Elementary School in Volusia County. The school, along with the Volusia County School Board, has been informed of the charges and is reportedly taking appropriate action in response.
Summers previously served as a pastor at Maranatha Baptist Church, the same congregation where Carter had been a long-standing member and taught Sunday school for decades.
Carter died last December at the age of 100.
After leaving office, Carter became known for many charitable efforts, including decades of volunteering with Habitat for Humanity alongside his wife, Rosalynn. Beginning in the 1980s, Carter was a regular Sunday school teacher at Maranatha Baptist, overseeing classes even in 2015 while he was battling cancer.
Summers led the church from 2005 to 2013, a period during which Carter was actively involved in the church’s spiritual activities.
Maranatha Baptist gained national recognition due to the Carters' involvement. The church has undergone significant changes in leadership in recent years.
In May 2024, the church hired its first female pastor, the Rev. Ashley Guthas, marking a historic shift in its tradition. Guthas succeeded the Rev. Tony Lowden, who in 2019 became the church’s first black lead pastor. Guthas, a graduate of the McAfee School of Theology, was previously an associate minister specializing in youth and family ministries before taking up her role at Maranatha Baptist.
