Former Lexington pastor convicted of rape gets more than a decade in prison
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Zachary King pleaded guilty to multiple sexual offenses involving a 15-year-old girl.
- Fayette Circuit Judge Julie Goodman sentenced King to 13 years in prison.
- King must register as a lifetime sex offender after his release from prison.
A former Lexington pastor who confessed to raping a 15-year-old girl for more than a year was sentenced to prison in Fayette Circuit Court on Thursday.
Zachary King, 48, was sentenced to 13 years in prison by Fayette Circuit Judge Julie Goodman. He previously pleaded guilty to first-degree rape, first-degree sodomy, first-degree sexual abuse, third-degree rape, third-degree sodomy, first-degree unlawful transaction with a minor and procuring or promoting the use of a minor by electronic means in March.
King will also be required to register as a lifetime sex offender upon his release from prison, according to the Kentucky Attorney General’s office.
“The defendant not only betrayed the trust of his victim but an entire congregation and community,” Attorney General Russell Coleman said in a news release. “We are relieved he will be sent to prison, rather than returning to the pulpit.”
King was arrested in July 2024 after investigators determined he raped a 15-year-old girl for more than a year between January 2023 and April 2024. The incidents happened at the pastor’s home, the minor’s home and at the former pastor’s church, according to court documents.
King was a former pastor at LexCity Church. The attorney general said the victim attended LexCity Church while King was a pastor.
Court documents say King resigned from the church, formerly called Quest, after being confronted by church staff over the allegations. LexCity Church announced it was permanently shutting down shortly after King’s arrest.
The property is now used by the Ukrainian Pentecostal Church and a Lexington-based affordable housing developer that built a 45-unit apartment complex for senior citizens.
