48-year-old pastor sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to molesting boy

Alphonso Joseph was arrested in July 2022 when deputies caught him in the backseat of Joseph's Toyota Camry at Matanzas Woods Golf Course.

By Observer Staff
| 2:38 p.m. December 5, 2023

Palm Coast Observer
News

A 48-year-old pastor has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to child molestation charges.

Alphonso Joseph was arrested in July 2022 and charged with lewd and lascivious battery of a child between the ages of 12 and 16.

A Flagler County judge sentenced Joseph to five years in prison and 10 years of sex offender probation on Nov. 29, according to a press release from the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.

FCSO deputies were investigating a noise complaint when they caught Joseph performing oral sex on a 15-year-old boy in the backseat of Joseph's Toyota Camry at the Matanzas Woods Golf Course, according to Joseph's arrest report. Joseph met the teen on the gay dating app Grindr, according to the report.

Joseph's Facebook page, at the time of his arrest, described himself as “Overseer Alphonso Joseph" and featured photos of him in clerical robes, according to previous reporting from the Observer.