The former leader of an evangelical get-out-the-vote group supporting Donald Trumps successful reelection bid was charged on Monday with eight counts of possessing child pornography.Prosecutors allege Jason Yates, former CEO of My Faith Votes, possessed a hard drive populated with sexual abuse images of minors under 14 years of age. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension began investigating the 55-year-old at the end of July, Religion News reports. Related Anti-LGBTQ+ church leader allegedly sexually abused kids. Hes facing 11 felony counts. MAGA musician Zachary Joseph Radcliff allegedly had multiple underage victims going back to 2011. My Faith Votes, which counts former Republican Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as an honorary chair, is one of a group of nonprofitsfounded to win support among the evangelical community for the former and future president. Your LGBTQ+ guide to Election 2024 Stay ahead of the 2024 Election with our newsletter that covers candidates, issues, and perspectives that matter. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Just weeks before the hard drive was discovered, Yates penned an op-ed for MAGA mouthpiece The Washington Times, urging devout Christians to fight sexually deviant messages aimed at children, in particular those identified as sympathetic to the LGBTQ+ community. This infernal programming is being downloaded into our children, and it becomes far easier when it finds no resistance in our public square when it is allowed to fill the void left by the absence of our faith, he wrote.The groups website blames Christians for failing to stand up against secular progressives which they fault for a litany of social ills.As a result of apathy at the voting booth and in public life, weve suffered devastating moral decay, declining religious freedom, immoral national debt, and the erosion of traditional family values, the groups website reads. My Faith Votes began its political proselytizing in 2016 with Trumps first bid for the presidency, spending millions on get-out-the-vote efforts aimed at Christians. The source of the groups funding is unclear.Ben Carson, Trumps future Housing and Urban Development Secretary and a client of the groups founder, influential Christian literary agent Sealy Yates, served as My Faith Votes first honorary chair.As part of their proselytizing efforts, Jason Yates promoted a vote pledge to be signed by targeted evangelicals. As a Christian, I commit to voting for candidates and policies that uphold the sanctity of life, the traditional family, religious liberty, and justice for all,the pledge reads.I believe that my biblical values should guide my choices at the ballot box, ensuring that our nations laws and leaders reflect Gods truth and righteousness.Yates tribulation was discovered by a relative who accidentally came across the hard drive in his office in July. That witness shared it with another relative who reported it to authorities. According to court documents, the drive contains over 100 still images and videos featuring the sexual abuse of minors under 14.Yates declined to provide a password for the drive but did admit he had a prior conviction related to the possession of child pornography, which had been expunged, the complaint filed against him reads. In the introduction to a GOTV video series produced by My Faith Votes, Yates asserts, Its time Christians let their faith guide their politics aligning their views with Gods Word and boldly confronting todays cultural challenges.Its critical, he says, that we reject apathy and think biblically about the issues in front of us, and this series is the ideal resource to help Christians navigate every political issue through the lens of the Word.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.