Youth pastor's exposing himself leads to removal from church

A Florida church, Pentecostals of Deland (POD), removed its youth pastor, Austin W. Plappert, after he pleaded guilty to exposing himself. Plappert, 26, had a similar incident in 2020, and in September 2022, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge related to exposing his sexual organs.

Plappert claims the incident occurred before his time as youth director. The church removed him from all duties.

Plappert’s probation ended in September 2023. Despite the incident, he preached at the church in April 2023, emphasizing truth and righteousness. The church’s senior pastor, Glenn Hires, has not responded to questions.

The Roys Reports (TRR)explains:

In late October 2023, Plappert and his wife were employed as youth directors at Pentecostals of Deland (POD) near Daytona Beach, according to an archived screenshot of the church’s website.

On Oct. 24, TRR first reached out to POD Senior Pastor Glenn Hires via email to inquire about Plappert’s employment at the church and if there was a restoration process. Hires didn’t answer, but Plappert wrote back saying Hires had forwarded him the email.

Plappert told TRR in his email response that he became youth director in 2023. But he wrote that he wasn’t on staff at the church at the time of what he called an “isolated incident” in March 2022. In Florida, a first-time offense for this charge is a misdemeanor of the first degree. A second offense is a felony of the third degree.

…

TRR has obtained two police reports, involving Plappert—one from Feb. 21, 2020, and one from March 18, 2022.

Both reports state that Plappert drove up to a woman, or women, who were walking along a road. Then he masturbated in front of them, while still in the car.

In the 2020 incident, the woman decided not to press charges, the report states. However, in the March 2022 incident, the women involved decided to press charges.