Pastor pleads guilty to abduction in case involving 13-year-old girl at camp
Published: Jan. 23, 2026 at 9:55 PM EST|Updated: Jan. 23, 2026 at 10:00 PM EST
ASHLAND COUNTY, Ohio (WOIO/Gray News) - An Ohio pastor entered a guilty plea this week in connection with a crime involving a 13-year-old girl.
Jesse Santos, pastor of Canton Seventh-day Adventist Church, was arrested in February 2025 and charged with kidnapping, two counts of gross sexual imposition and endangering children.
On Thursday, Santos entered a guilty plea to the amended charge of abduction. He will be sentenced in March by Ashland County Court of Common Pleas Judge David Stimpert.
According to the police report, the crime happened at a campsite at River Run Campground in Loudonville.
Copyright 2026 WOIO via Gray Local Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
