Long Beach pastor who confessed to viewing child porn won’t face prosecution

A Long Beach pastor who admitted to having viewed child pornography for at least a decade will not be prosecuted, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

Jeff Zabel, 50, who previously worked at Arbor Road Church in Long Beach as well as its private school Lakewood Christian School, was arrested last month after confessing to church leadership and police to viewing the obscene materials for years. Following its investigation, the Long Beach Police Department submitted the case to the LA County DA’s office.

“The case was declined due to insufficient evidence to satisfy the corpus delicti rule, which requires independent evidence of a crime apart from a confession,” the DA’s office said in a statement to the Watchdog. “No child pornography was found on his devices.”

“Procedurally, LBPD could resubmit a case with additional evidence for filing consideration,” the office added.

The Long Beach Police Department, for its part, told the Watchdog that if new evidence or information is obtained, it would reopen its investigation and consider resubmitting the case to the DA’s office.

David Hammond, a public defender in Orange County, notes that district attorney’s offices have the power to prosecute whomever they want. While some counties may have chosen to proceed with the case against Zabel, he is not surprised that Los Angeles did not.

“They’re not going to file a case they can’t prove,” Hammond told the Watchdog Monday. “I think it arguably shows the ethical integrity of the LA County DA’s office that they didn't file this case because they know they have proof problems.”

When asked if such cases present a sort of loophole for cases in which suspects can destroy evidence, or use other peoples’ devices, Hammond pushed back.

“It’s not really a loophole, it’s just the law,” Hammond said, adding that there is always the presumption of innocence as well as cases of false confession. “It’s there to protect us all.

“The reality is, some people are going to get away with doing some pretty bad things because of the requirements of the law and the value we place on each other’s liberty,” Hammond continued. “We don’t want to lock people up unjustly. There’s a balancing act that’s happening.”

The allegations against Zabel were made public in a Sept. 11 email to church and school families in which Lead Pastors Brent Eldridge and Alan Kim said they were made aware of a “concerning moral failure in the life” of Zabel on Sept. 8. The following day, church leadership met with Zabel and urged him to “face the situation with humility, honesty, and forthrightness,” according to the email.

During the meeting, Zabel confessed “in detail” to a “long-term moral failure in his life spanning more than a decade,” the email reads.

Zabel, who had worked as the pastor of worship and service production since June 2008, resigned. He also was removed from his role as a part-time music teacher at Lakewood Christian School.

On Sept. 9, the LBPD was informed about Zabel’s confession, according to the department. Detectives arranged a meeting with Zabel, who was taken into custody after the interview, booked on one count of possession of child pornography and later released on his own recognizance, an LBPD spokesperson said.

In a Sept. 13 email, days after Zabel had been booked, Eldridge told church and school parents that there was no update on the case and pushed back against a news article published the day before by Patch outlining the facts of the case.

“Before this article was published, we heard that while Jeff had initially been charged with a child pornography offense, the charge was later changed to something else,” Eldridge wrote. “In fact, we don’t know what that charge is since it hasn’t been made public. When we find out, rest assured, we will pass that information along.”

The information included in the Patch article was public information provided to the reporter by the LBPD. When questioned by the Watchdog, the LBPD said the charge was never changed after the initial booking.

Eldridge declined to answer questions from the Watchdog, saying the church has "no interest in communicating beyond what we already have to our community." It's unclear if additional emails with updates on the situation have been sent to parents since Sept. 13.

One parent who attends the church and has children at the school said leadership, including the pastors and principals, have not been forthcoming with information about the alleged crime.

“They are giving none of us parents any answers, not even holding at least a school meeting about it. Nothing,” the parent said. “But forcing us all to go about our day.”

The parent also noted that Zabel’s wife, Samantha, who is a kindergarten teacher at the school and kid’s church coordinator, had been removed from both websites despite still being employed. Eldridged confirmed that Samantha remains employed in both roles, saying she is “deeply rooted in and connected to our ministries as an exemplary team member.”

Eldridge did not comment on her removal from the websites.

The parent accused school leadership of fostering an environment where parents are scared to speak out for fear of retaliation.

“The school makes it hard to speak up about anything,” they said, adding that the children of parents who don’t fall in line are treated differently and even face expulsion.

The parent cited a newer section of the school’s handbook that states staff and parents are not allowed to discuss situations that they are not directly involved in or which they cannot “solve, correct, or handle themselves.” The handbook also states staff and administrators will not “read, respond to, or take into consideration notes or emails that are sent anonymously or under false presences.

“Failure to follow this chain of communication could result in your student’s dismissal from LCS,” the handbook states.

“We all desire to work harmoniously in our LCS community,” the handbook continued. “Parent behavior that is determined contrary to school policy, guidelines, and/or philosophy may result in student’s dismissal.”