Matthew McGinley, formerly a worship pastor at the Ascent Project in Fort Collins, Colorado, has been arrested and charged with felony sexual assault of a minor after confessing to a past sexual relationship with a student.
Court records indicate McGinley, now 30, was 24 at the time of the misconduct, which began while he was a part-time educator at a leading Northern Colorado Christian school.
Investigators say private flirtatious communications escalated over time, eventually leading to sexual contact in 2020 after he had left the school.
He was arrested and charged with felony sexual assault of a minor.
In an email to the victim’s family, McGinley reportedly expressed remorse, apologising and attributing his actions to a “quarter-life crisis”. He also wrote that he had repented.
McGinley was a part-time teacher during the 2018-2019 academic year, where his relationship reportedly began with the student, starting with flirtatious texts.
This escalated when the two allegedly started to have sex at the beginning of 2020 - the intimate relationship allegedly took place off campus, with McGinley not working at the school anymore.
The minor stopped communicating with him at some point during that same year, according to filings.
According to court records cited by CBS News Colorado, the relationship remained unshared until 2025, when McGinley informed a church leader about it, and he immediately terminated McGinley from his job and escorted him to the police station.
The Christian school where he previously taught emphasised that McGinley has been banned from any further involvement and noted that they had not been aware of his criminal behaviour until recently.
They noted in their statement to parents of the school that no current students had ever been taught by McGinley, and he hadn’t worked for the school in over five years.
McGinley is currently free on bond while awaiting criminal proceedings.