The co-creator of the popular “Thank You Jesus” yard signs that raise money for Christian groups has been charged with child sex crimes.
Lucas Hunt, 25, from Asheboro, North Carolina, was arrested and charged Tuesday with one count of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor, according to jail records from the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office.
Hunt is alleged to have received an explicit video of two underage girls, sheriff’s deputies said in his arrest warrant.
Hunt — who created the popular sign when he was a teenager — was arrested following an online tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, jail records show.
Officers from the Invictus Task Force — a cross-county initiative that investigates internet crimes against children — began investigating the case last month, before identifying Hunt as a suspect.
He was held in the Randolph County Detention Center on a $75,000 secure bond and appeared in Randolph County District Court on Wednesday, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
During his first court appearance, Hunt told the judge he understood the charges and plans to hire an attorney, CBS 17 reports. His next court appearance is scheduled for March 19.
Hunt gained fame in 2016 after he began selling yellow yard signs with the words “Thank You Jesus” written on them in a childlike scrawl, and by 2017, he had sold 100,000, spawning a national movement, the Thank You Jesus Ministry, reports The News & Observer.
All the proceeds from the sales would go to local Christian organizations.
In 2014, Hunt started putting up signs reading “Jesus is the reason for the season,” in his hometown of Asheboro, before becoming a camp counselor for a group of 12 children the following year.
“I read the Bible to them and led them throughout the week. I saw them grow,” Hunt told the Seven Lake Insider in April 2017.
Around Easter 2016, he shortened his signs to read simply, “Thank You Jesus,” which became a mainstay of front yards across the US.
More than 250,000 of the signs — which start at $10 — have now been sold, along with car magnets, garden flags, and bracelets, according to the movement’s website.
Hunt’s name has since been removed from the Ministry’s website, and their board is meeting soon to discuss his future, Thank You Jesus Mission president Constance Frazier — who cofounded the movement with Hunt when they were both 16 — told FOX8.
“Thank You Jesus has always been about more than one person; it’s about people who love Jesus and want to show their appreciation. Although we cannot comment on the criminal charges against Lucas Hunt, we can share that he blessed thousands of people through the Thank You Jesus signs,” Frazier told the outlet.
