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A Gwinnett County pastor is behind bars charged with ripping off a disabled church member and Snellville Police investigators want to know if other victims may exist.
Robert Whittaker is being held without bond in the Gwinnett County Jail on charges of exploiting a disabled adult and violating his probation.
The self-proclaimed convict turned preacher often shared about his troubled past in his sermons and on YouTube videos.
“I wanted everything that the world had to offer me and it caused me to get 30 to do 15,” he said in one of his sermons. “I was chasing after cars, money, women, jewelry… but was it really worth it.”
Snellville Police believe he apparently didn’t learn from his past mistakes and took advantage of Connie Bonner and her disabled husband, Jack.
She told police Whittaker, her pastor at Be Encouraged Ministry, offered to help care for Jack while she worked the night shift.
Instead, Bonner says he took out credit cards in her husband’s name and racked up charges of $14,000 including local hotel stays, jewelry, hair solon visits, expensive dinners, and $2,200 rims for a car. She didn’t realize what had happened until the credit card bills starting coming in the mail.
“I’m already pinching pennies and I can’t afford to pay out more money than what I’m bringing in,” Bonner tells WSB’s Sandra Parrish.
She says other church members have asked her to drop the charges in exchange for the money to be repaid. So far, Bonner has refused saying Whittaker needs to be held accountable for what he has done.
Snellville Police Capt. Carey Roberts says the department believes there may be more victims who are afraid or embarrassed to come forward.
“Anytime that you have that type of authority over an audience, it looks like he basically picked one out of the crowd that could be fleeced,” he says.
One unidentified church member says he doesn't believe the allegations are true and promised to have Whittaker's wife return a call to WSB.
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