A Tennessee pastor who appeared on American Idol and The Voice is facing multiple felony theft-related charges after he allegedly stole the identify of a man in his church. Steven Flockhart, 39, of 901 Church in Memphis was arrested on Thursday, Nov. 2 on one count of identity theft and one count of theft of merchandise $2,500-$10,000, according to Shelby County records, per News Channel 3.
According to an arrest affidavit, in 2019, Flockhart and another member of his church agreed to open a joint credit card for the church. The victim told police that Flockhart called him and requested his personal information. Although the victim was hesitant, he ultimately gave him the information. However, in September of this year, the church member noticed his credit score dropped significantly. When he looked into his credit report, he discovered someone had opened a credit card under his name that he didn’t authorize. The card had an unpaid balance of $6,410, according to the affidavit. When he confronted Flockhart about it, the pastor reportedly admitted to having opened it. Both the loan holder Synchrony Financial and the victim also confirmed that the phone number connected to the account was Flockhart’s.
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The incident was not the first for Flockhart. The arrest affidavit claims Flockhart allegedly previously forged documents and impersonated the account holder of a credit card at a separate church in Georgia. That incident resulted in a lawsuit in 2020.
Flockhart was taken into police custody on Nov. 2 and booked into the Shelby County Jail on one count of identity theft and one count of theft of merchandise $2,500-$10,000, Fox 13 reported. The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the pastor posted a bond of $2,000. He made his first court appearance Monday.
Flockhart is the lead pastor at 901 Church and oversees two locations in the Memphis suburbs of Millington and Bartlett. According to Flockhart’s bio on the church website, the pastor was heavily involved in the music industry for about 12 years, but “in 2012, after briefly appearing on American Idol and then being selected as a contestant on The Voice… God made it clear that he was supposed to walk away from what could have been a very prominent music career, and that he was supposed to Pastor and Lead people to advance the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
In a statement posted on their Facebook page, the church said, “we are aware (of) the recent allegations against Pastor Stevie Flockhart made by Dana Mark McCall. While we do not find the allegations factual, we believe that vindication from God and stand firm in his sovereignty and truth. Please pray for our pastor and his family, for the hearts of those who seek to attack him and the church, and our community.”
