Police reveal messages from religious leader suspected of grooming minors
01 de April de 2025
By Jadson Lima – From Cenarium
MANAUS (AM) – The Civil Police of Amazonas (PC-AM) made public on Tuesday, 1 April, sexually explicit messages sent by a religious leader, identified as Gelson, 38, to a 12-year-old teenager. The man was placed under preventive arrest in Manaus on Monday, 31 March, by a team from the Specialised Police Unit for the Protection of Children and Adolescents (Depca) as part of Operation Matthew 7:15, which investigates facilitation of prostitution and the grooming of children and adolescents aged 12 to 14.
According to the police, the religious leader was also charged in flagrante delicto for the crime of storing pornographic material involving children and adolescents during the police operation. The records were found on electronic devices in the suspect’s possession after a search and seizure warrant was executed at an address linked to Gelson in the Paz neighbourhood, in the South-Central Zone of the Amazonian capital. The court authorised unrestricted access to the contents on the suspect’s devices.
In addition to the messages exchanged with one of the victims, authorities also revealed conversations between the suspect and another man, whose name was not disclosed by the police. In one of the messages, sent at 7:39 PM on an unspecified day, the other person tells the suspect that he will message him when he gets home.
At the same time, the religious leader asks him if he would dare to have sexual relations with his stepson. “He’s too young,” replies the other person, who warns the suspect to be careful with the child’s mother. “He won’t tell,” says the leader before stating that he had already had relations with the victim on another occasion. The other person insists: “He’s a child,” and the religious leader responds: “I know.” See messages revealed by PC-AM:
Another piece of content made public by the police on Tuesday indicates that Gelson took a female child to an elderly man to commit sexual crimes. The dialogue is recorded during a conversation in which the suspect suggests he can leave the victim with the other suspect for an hour. “I don’t have a car, how will we do it?” asks the man, who expresses a desire to commit sexual crimes with the child. See message:
Rape of a vulnerable person
In addition to grooming and storing illicit material, the head of Depca, delegate Juliana Tuma, stated that the investigation pointed to evidence that the religious leader committed other crimes, including abuse against children in his own family, which could constitute rape of a vulnerable person. The suspect was also selling material involving minors.
In other messages released by PC-AM, sent by the religious leader at 6:18 PM, he claims to have had sexual relations with an 8-year-old boy. The other man also says he abused another child and shares details of the alleged crime. On 13 March, they speak again, and the suspect says he will take care of his nephew. “I’ll go now,” replies the other person at 5:49 PM. See messages:
‘It has to be hidden’
One of the religious leader’s victims is a 12-year-old teenager. The suspect begins by asking if the teenager participates in tournaments and even offers a pair of football boots, conditioning the gift on sexual relations. “You come, f** me, and take the boots,”* says Gelson. The victim then expresses concern, and the suspect replies: “I’m married, so everything has to be hidden.” He also reveals that he had sexual relations with another teenager for R$ 150. “But he left,” he said. See messages:
In the conversation, the man asks one victim to lie to their guardian, claiming they won the product in a raffle. He also admits to using the same method with another teenager. “We print some fake raffle tickets. Then you take about 15 just to say you’re selling them. After a week, you say you won. I did this with another boy, and it worked,” says the religious leader. See messages:
Investigation
At a press conference on Tuesday, delegate Juliana Tuma emphasised that the investigation began after the mother of one of the victims contacted authorities by filing a police report (Boletim de Ocorrência – BO) against the religious leader. She reported finding sexually explicit messages between him and her son on the child’s phone.
After the complaint, PC-AM teams began investigations and sought court approval for the suspect’s preventive arrest, as well as search and seizure warrants for addresses and vehicles linked to him. Operation Matthew 7:15 was named after a biblical passage warning of false prophets.
“After an intense investigation, we carried out the court orders. The suspect was located in the Paz neighbourhood, in the west-central zone of the capital. During the operation, we seized two mobile phones, textbooks, and a notebook. He seemed above suspicion, having acted as a youth leader in an evangelical church for over 10 years,” explained the delegate.