Nampa pastor has $2M bond on child porn charges. ‘The images are horrific’
A man who was the senior pastor at a Nampa church has been charged with 13 felony child pornography counts, including both the distribution and possession of materials, as well as generating a “visual representation” using Artificial Intelligence.
Matthew Masiewicz, 53, was taken into custody at his home Tuesday, according to police. He was the senior pastor at Sovereign Grace Fellowship, a church that’s part of the Reformed Baptist Network. The church said it removed Masiewicz from his position as soon as learning of the charges.
According to the criminal complaint, he faces six counts for allegedly distributing child pornography over an anonymous messaging app, six counts of possession of pornographic material and one count for altering an image using AI.
Each count of distribution carries a penalty of up to 30 years in prison; each count of possession up to 10 years; and the child porn AI charge can have a sentence of up to 30 years, 3rd District Judge John Meierhofer said at a Wednesday arraignment. Meierhofer set bond at $2 million.
“This is somebody ... he’s in a position of trust, this has been going on for months, the images are horrific as described,” Meierhofer said at the hearing. “This is not a situation where he should be getting out under any circumstance, and if I could no-bail, I would, but I can’t.”
According to an archived page of the Sovereign Grace Fellowship website, Masiewicz became a pastor at the church in 2012 and was elevated to senior pastor in 2020.
Sam Vanderwall, one of six elders of the church, told the Idaho Statesman that Masiewicz handled the regular Sunday sermons.
The elders sent a message to the Sovereign Grace Fellowship congregation about the arrest on Tuesday, Vanderwall told the Statesman.
“This is a grievous sin and something he hid thoroughly,” the message read, in part. “Please be in prayer for the Masiewicz family. They were also caught completely unaware by the secret sin that was taking place in Matt’s heart and actions.”
Vanderwall described the church community as being in shock, and said the leaders removed Masiewicz from his position immediately.
“We are actively looking into any possible and all people who may have been affected,” Vanderwall said in a phone interview. “And if anyone has any knowledge they need to share, please reach out to our church office or the elders at Sovereign Grace.”
Amber Walker, an investigator for the Canyon County Prosecutor’s Office, was referred the case from the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children task force, which found child exploitive material a Kik account had possessed and distributed in March, according to court documents.
In an affidavit, Walker said she found two IP addresses used to upload the material — one account that was owned by Sovereign Grace Fellowship and one owned by Masiewicz. The prosecutor also said that the Nampa Police Department and an ICAC task force used a search warrant to examine Masiewicz’s laptop and his phone, and found child pornography on both devices.
When Walker interviewed Masiewicz, she stated in the affidavit, he originally denied any knowledge of the material. But after she told him what was found, “he stood up abruptly, turned around, put his hands behind his back and stated, ‘I’m going to own this,’” according to the affidavit.
Masiewicz denied having physical contact with any children but admitted to using AI to alter images to create child pornography, the affidavit said.
Masiewicz has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Oct. 7. He is being held at the Canyon County jail.
