Bible Study Leader with Grace City Church Ties Charged with Nine Sexually-Motivated Crimes

Chelan County Deputy Prosecutor Julia Hartnell says Michael E. Wilson cultivated and victimized young men “using the cover of the church”

Trigger warning: this post contains details of alleged sexual assaults. Reader discretion is advised.

A Grace City Church social media post featuring Michael E. Wilson, with a comment from GCC church planter and executive pastor Josh McPherson below.

The Chelan County Prosecuting Attorney’s office charged retired educator and Wenatchee-based Bible study leader Michael E. Wilson with nine counts of sexually motivated crimes in Superior Court on Monday, Nov. 14, 2022.

The charges include rape in the second degree, two counts of attempted rape in the second degree, rape in the third degree, and two counts of assault in the fourth degree with sexual motivation.

The first page of the charging document outlining the crimes Wilson for which being prosecuted.

Wilson’s bail was set at $1 million, and he is currently being held in the Chelan County Regional Justice Center. He’s due to be arraigned on Nov. 21. According to NCWLIFE’s Jefferson Robbins, Deputy Prosecutor Julia Hartnell told Superior Court Judge Travis Brandt on Nov. 9 that “Wilson cultivated and victimized young men ‘using the cover of the church.’”

According to the affidavit of probable cause written by Wenatchee Police Department Detective Stephen Evitt, two men allege that Wilson sexually assaulted them. Both were members of Wilson’s Bible study group, which is made up of “young men between the ages of 18 and 26 years old.”

Alcohol comes into play in one victim’s story, and according to Evitt’s affidavit, Wilson was known to allow anyone to have alcohol during Bible studies.

“Some of the young men were under 21 and still allowed to drink,” Evitt wrote.

Both victims describe similar experiences where Wilson would give them massages on his bed that would turn into something more.

A screenshot from page one of the affidavit of probable cause. All references to the victims using their initials have been redacted by me.

On another occasion, the first victim said he fell asleep while Wilson was giving him a massage, and when he woke up, his “underwear was pulled down and Wilson’s face was right next to his penis.”

A screenshot from the second page of the affidavit of probable cause.

In total, Evitt reported that the first victim said Wilson touched his penis “3 or 4 times,” touched his buttocks “a few times,” and on another occasion, Wilson put a finger into his anus. The victim showed Evitt text messages where Wilson would make “joking” references to his penis.

*“Based on my training and experience, these messages are Wilson’s attempt at normalizing his own sexual behavior to redacted (grooming),” Evitt wrote.*

The second victim told Evitt that on July 4, 2022 he was drinking with friends and when it was time to leave, he was “driven to Wilson’s house by a friend who lived with Wilson.”

That friend helped the victim to the basement and deposited him on a couch or the floor next to the couch.

“Redacted said that at some point (possibly in the middle of the night/AM), he woke up on the floor, on his back. He saw Wilson over him,” Evitt wrote. “He woke to seeing and feeling Wilson sucking on his penis.”

According to Evitt’s report, the second victim said Wilson then tried to sexually assault him.

A screenshot from the third page of the affidavit of probable cause.

When Evitt interviewed Wilson, he wrote that Wilson admitted to putting his mouth on the second victim’s penis, but the young man never said “no” to sexual contact or pushed him off. He also told the detective that he didn’t think the victim was drunk or unable to consent to sexual contact.

A screenshot from the fourth page of the affidavit of probable cause.

The Church Wilson Used “For Cover”

The question of what church Hartnell was referring to in court has been a subject of much speculation among members of the local media and the public at large. So I decided to look into it that part of the story as well.

An employee at the Wenatchee Convention Center said he remembers seeing Wilson nearly every Sunday while Grace City Church was holding services at the Numerica Performing Arts Center, GCC’s home prior to moving to their Sunnyslope compound at the beginning of the pandemic. That individual said Wilson seemed to be “high up” at GCC.

A former GCC member said she remembers seeing Wilson at services frequently around that time and said he was on the “Connect” team. She said the Connect team members are basically greeters. That tracks with the Facebook post from Grace City Church featured above that states he was a Connect team member. That post has been deleted in the last 24 hours.

Read the rest of this piece on Substack here.