A 40-year-old former Worship Minister at the Calumet Street Christian Church in Centralia has pleaded guilty to five counts of child pornography in exchange for three other counts, including two Class X felonies, being dismissed.
Ian Mophet of Edgewood Lane in Centralia entered the plea in Marion County Court on Thursday. Sentencing is set for May 22nd at 10:30 am. Mophet was arrested on the first four charges in October 2023 following an investigation which began that August after Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force picked up on child pornography activity in the Centralia area. The other four child pornography charges were filed as the forensic evidence evaluation found other violations.
Mophet has been out on bond, but has been under GPS home confinement, restricted to no contact with anyone under 18, and no contact with the church. He was ordered to have no internet capable devices, no internet access, and give police consent to search at any time.
Two of the felony charges he pleaded guilty depicted a female child under the age of 13 involved in a lewd exhibition. The other three counts involved females under the age of 18.
The court ordered the probation office to prepare a pre-sentence investigation report prior to sentencing, in which Mophet has the right to participate.
Mophet was terminated from his position at the church after they reviewed the evidence with State Police.
