Timothy Scarr — Landmark Christian Center (Assemblies of God)
A worship leader who pleaded guilty in 1985 to molesting two boys, was restored to ministry by his father the senior pastor five days after leaving prison — and was convicted again in 1998 after abusing two more boys.
Pentecostal (Assemblies of God) Convicted (1985, 1998)
- Person
- Timothy Scarr
- Role
- Worship/music leader
- Institution
- Landmark Christian Center (Assemblies of God), Downey, California
- Location
- Downey, California
- Status
- Convicted twice — guilty plea 1985; convicted again 1998
- Sentence
- 30 years (1998 conviction)
Case in brief
Tier 1 · Court-proven
Timothy Scarr was a worship and music leader at Landmark Christian Center, an Assemblies of God church in Downey, California. He pleaded guilty in 1985 to molesting two boys from the church. Five days after his release from prison in 1988, his father — the church’s senior pastor — threw him a welcome-back party and restored him as worship leader, defending the restoration in court filings on the ground that God had “miraculously cured” his son and that failure to forgive and reinstate him would itself be a mortal sin. Scarr then abused two more boys over the next decade, including in the sanctuary, per criminal records. He was convicted again in 1998 and given 30 years. The church settled the later victims’ lawsuits for $3.5 million; a judge dismissed the Assemblies of God national body from that case.
The institution
Landmark Christian Center and its senior pastor — Scarr’s father. The restoration was not a records error or a quiet oversight: it was celebrated publicly and defended in court filings as a theological obligation. NBC News documented this case as an instance of the Assemblies of God’s restoration pattern, not an outlier (see The Pattern).
The record
Tier 1 · Court-proven
| Item | Record |
|---|---|
| First disposition (1985) | Guilty plea — molesting two boys |
| Restoration (1988) | Welcome-back party five days after release; restored as worship leader |
| Further abuse | Two more boys over the following decade |
| Second conviction (1998) | 30 years |
| Civil | Church settled later victims’ suits for $3.5 million; AG national body dismissed from the case |
Status
Second conviction of record (1998), 30-year sentence.
Records requested & responses
This archive has not filed records requests in this case. The file rests on the published sources below and will be updated if court or institutional records are obtained, or if that changes.
Sources
- NBC News, “Pastors and Prey” — Assemblies of God investigation (November 2025), report text (1985 plea; 1988 restoration; 1998 conviction and 30 years; $3.5M settlement): goppredator.com (PDF of NBC report)
Filed October 18, 2026, from the published sources below. Minor victims are never named or identified in this file.