ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A former leader of an Orlando-based ministry that claimed for years it could cure homosexuality has been arrested in an underage sex sting, according to an Orange County arrest affidavit.
Alan Manning Chambers, 54, was arrested Tuesday in Winter Park.
Chambers is charged with solicitation of a minor via computer, transmitting harmful material to a minor and unlawful use of a two-way communication device, according to the affidavit.
He was booked into the Orange County Jail with no bond listed.
Undercover Snapchat investigation began in February
Investigators said an undercover detective operating a Snapchat account began communicating with a user in February.
According to the affidavit, the detective identified himself as a 14-year-old boy living in Orlando.
The user identified himself as a 50-year-old man named “John David,” and told the undercover detective he lived in Orlando and later moved the conversation to text messages and Telegram, investigators said.
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Deputies said the conversations continued for several months.
According to the affidavit, the user repeatedly discussed meeting and engaging in sexual activity with the person he believed was a teenager.
Investigators said the user also repeatedly expressed concern about the age difference and the possibility of getting in trouble.
The affidavit said the user deleted some communications and told the undercover detective he did not want anyone to find out.
Investigators said the user discussed meeting multiple times, including in March, April and May.
According to the affidavit, the user told the undercover detective in April that he would meet him, but later said he had been pulled over on Interstate 4.
Investigators said the user then asked if the teen could take an Uber to meet near his office on Park Avenue in Winter Park.
The affidavit said the user also sent a photo of his office showing a brown table on a unique carpet.
Investigators say records connected accounts to Chambers
Investigators said they used search warrants and subpoenas to connect the Snapchat account, phone number and Telegram username to Chambers.
According to the affidavit, Google records showed the account was connected to the name Alan Manning Chambers, a date of birth matching Chambers and email addresses associated with him.
AT&T records also connected a phone number to an Alan M.L. Chambers Foundation with a billing address in Winter Park, according to the affidavit.
Deputies said they stopped Chambers on Tuesday near Aloma Avenue and Strathy Lane.
According to the affidavit, Chambers told investigators he works at John Craig Clothiers in Winter Park and lives with his wife and two children.
Investigators said Chambers confirmed the Snapchat account “JDWP50” and Telegram username “@AlexWP74” belonged to him.
The affidavit said Chambers also confirmed he used the phone number investigators had tied to the undercover communications.
When asked whether he communicated with any children, investigators said Chambers told them he communicated with one person he identified as a codename, who was 14 years old and whom he met on Snapchat.
According to the affidavit, Chambers told investigators they discussed meeting but would not specify why.
Deputies said Chambers later declined to answer more questions.
Investigators served Chambers with a search warrant and seized a black iPhone and an Apple computer from his possession, according to the affidavit.
Chambers previously led Exodus International
Chambers is the former leader of Exodus International, an Orlando-based organization that promoted so-called conversion therapy and claimed for years that people could change their sexual orientation.
Channel 9 reported in 2013 that Chambers apologized to the LGBTQ community and announced Exodus International would shut down.
At the time, Chambers said he was sorry for the pain the organization had caused and acknowledged that he had masked his own attraction to men.
Chambers said in 2013 that he was “very, very sorry” for the group’s role in that pain.
Local LGBTQ leaders told Channel 9 at the time that the closure was long overdue and said people who went through the program experienced shame and emotional harm.
Channel 9 found the former Exodus International building in Altamonte Springs shut down, with the doors locked, lights off and the parking lot empty.
The former headquarters was later listed for sale.
This is a developing story. Channel 9 will have more on Eyewitness News starting at 4 p.m.
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