Former ‘ex-gay’ leader charged with soliciting sex from minor in undercover Snapchat sting
‘Ex-gay’ pastor Alan Chambers was arrested in Orlando (Image: Orange County Jail)
Alan Manning Chambers, the former president of conversion-therapy-promoting ministry Exodus International, has been arrested in Orlando and charged with soliciting sex from a minor in an alleged police sting, according to Orange County court documents.
Chambers was arrested by Orlando Police and was charged with solicitation of a minor via computer, as well as sending harmful material to a minor, and illegal use of a two-way communication device.
As per local TV reporting, a detective posing as a 14-year-old boy on Snapchat was contacted by someone claiming to be a 50-year-old man named “John David”. Police allege the conversation later moved to Telegram and text messages and continued for several months. Investigators reportedly linked the “John David” phone number, Telegram account and Snapchat profile back to Chambers.
Police alleged Chambers told them he believed he had been talking to a person on Snapchat who was 14 years old, but he would not answer more questions.
Detectives allege “David” suggested meeting someone he believed to be 14 in April 2026, but later claimed he had been pulled over, so could not meet at the agreed time. He allegedly suggested the teen take an Uber to his office instead. Police stopped and arrested Chambers on Tuesday, 19 May 2026.
Exodus International
Exodus International was for decades the best-known US network of so-called ‘ex-gay’ ministries, frequently cited in political and religious debates about LGBTQ+ rights.
Conversion therapy is widely discredited by major medical and psychological bodies and is linked to increased risks of depression, anxiety and suicidal feelings among LGBTQ+ people.
Chambers became a prominent public face of the ‘ex-gay’ movement in US media before later distancing himself from ‘change’ narratives. He publicly renounced conversion therapy in 2012 and said he did not believe ‘cure’ was an applicable concept for homosexuality.
In a 2012 Associated Press interview, he said: “I do not believe that cure is a word that is applicable to really any struggle, homosexuality included, for someone to put out a shingle and say, ‘I can cure homosexuality’ — that to me is as bizarre as someone saying they can cure any other common temptation or struggle that anyone faces on Planet Earth.”
Exodus International closed in 2013 after nearly 37 years. Chambers later appeared at Pride events, including delivering two sermons at the Washington National Cathedral during a Capital Pride celebration in 2016.
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