A Fort Smith man who was listed as a staff member for Christ for the World Church/Bobby Hogan Ministries when he sexually assaulted at least two minors was sentenced to 20 years in prison with an additional ten years suspended in Sebastian County Circuit Court last week.
According to information from the Sebastian County JusticeWeb site, Isaiah Thompson entered the guilty plea in an agreement with prosecutors on Wednesday July 23. The information from that plea was not posted on that site until yesterday.
Thompson was originally charged with two counts of Rape in the case.
Thompson was affiliated with Christ of the World Church and Bobby Hogan Ministries in Fort Smith until he was fired in 2018. Today in Fort Smith was first to break the story on his arrest in November of 2020.
The entire, heavily redacted case file can be viewed by downloading this link:
Thompson was arrested after an investigation that lasted almost ten months. According to information in paperwork obtained by Today in Fort Smith, investigators were initially investigating another suspect when information was developed incriminating Thompson came to light. The allegations are that Thompson was involved with several relationships involving underaged males during his employment with the church.
One victim related that he was involved with Thompson sexually from the time he was seven-years-old until Thompson was fired in 2018. It is thought that abuse occurred for 17-18 years. That victim also told investigator the name of a second victim who is now an adult and was in jail in another part of the state when Thompson was arrested.
That man told law enforcement officials he had started attending the church at the age of three and Thompson had abused him starting at around the age of twelve.
The supplements to the original report filed by Detective Jeff Taylor revealed that Thompson "nodded his head" and confessed to the improper conduct during an initial interview, but called off the session and asked for a lawyer when the name of the first victim was mentioned.
At one point, Thompson lived with the Hogan family and was referred to on at least 0ne existing online source as Isaiah Thompson-Hogan at the time of his arrest.
Both Pastor Bobby Hogan and his wife Teresa were interviewed by police. Theresa Hogan told told investigators "they treated him as if he was one of their children". Bobby Hogan told detectives "if God would have told me, I would not have believed it" concerning the allegations against Thompson.
The investigation was started after a Hogan family member went to police in January 2020 with the allegations of widespread sexual misconduct within the church.
Bobby Hogan told investigators Thompson was a "volunteer" at the church but he is listed as a "pastor" on an online page for the church and also listed in documentation for the churches youth ministry before he was fired in 2018.
Thompson was given credit for jail time served since November 10, 2020 and was order to register as a sex offender once released from prison. He is to have no contact with his victims in the future.
