Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
For years, Alan Manning Chambers was one of the most recognizable faces of the “ex‑gay” movement – the public president of the now‑defunct Exodus International, a man who flew across America assuring audiences that same‑sex attraction could be “cured” through prayer and counseling. On Tuesday, May 18, 2026, the 54‑year‑old father of two was arrested in a very different capacity. Chambers, who now lives with his wife and children in the quiet suburban enclave of Winter Park, Florida, is accused of spending three months pursuing a sexual relationship with someone he believed was a 14‑year‑old boy, sending explicit messages, nude photos and repeatedly trying to arrange an in‑person meeting. The person on the other end of the chat, however, was not a minor, but an undercover deputy of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies said they “stopped a predator before he had the chance to harm a child.”
According to an arrest affidavit released on Wednesday, May 19, investigators began tracking Chambers in February 2026 after an undercover detective, posing as a teenage boy on the social media app Snapchat, was contacted by an individual using the name “John David”. The conversation quickly migrated to the encrypted messaging service Telegram and eventually to standard text messages. Over the following weeks, the person behind the “John David” alias repeatedly discussed a desire to meet for sex, lamented a supposed “forbidden love” and expressed concern about the age gap. In one message cited by Fox 35 Orlando, Chambers allegedly wrote: “Is it bad that I want to make love to someone who is 14?” At another point, he messaged about “forbidden love” and said he wanted the boy “so much”. The affidavit states that Chambers sent the undercover operative multiple explicit photographs, including one showing a man’s torso and genitals, as well as another image of his face.
In April, the person using the “John David” identity suggested that the two meet in person, but later claimed that he had been pulled over by law enforcement and could not arrive at the agreed time. Instead, he allegedly proposed that the undercover “teen” take an Uber to his workplace. The chat logs, which investigators say spanned from February 10 through May 4, show repeated efforts to arrange a physical encounter despite the suspect’s own fear of being caught. At various points, Chambers – who told deputies during an interview that he worked at a men’s clothing store in Winter Park – expressed anxiety about the legal consequences of his actions and, according to the police report, “occasionally deleted the chats”.
The sting culminated on the morning of Tuesday, May 18, when deputies stopped a vehicle driven by Chambers at the intersection of Aloma Avenue and Strathy Lane in Orange County. According to the Sheriff’s Office, the 54‑year‑old initially confirmed that the messaging accounts investigators had been tracking belonged to him. However, when officers began asking specific questions about his conversations with the supposed 14‑year‑old, Chambers “stopped the interview”. He was taken into custody without further incident and booked into the Orange County Jail. Jail records initially listed him as being held without bond, though he was later released after posting a $15,000 bond. Conditions of his release include a ban on any contact with individuals under 18 years of age, as well as severe restrictions on his use of social media and the internet, which he is now permitted to access only for work‑related purposes.
Chambers has been formally charged with three criminal counts: solicitation of a minor via computer, transmission of material harmful to minors, and unlawful use of a two‑way communication device – a charge that reflects the use of cell phones and messaging applications in the commission of the alleged crime. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office has publicly urged anyone with additional information about possible victims to come forward, stating that investigators are actively seeking to determine whether Chambers communicated with other minors during his time as a public figure and beyond.
The irony of Chambers’ arrest is starkly illuminated by his own public history. From 2001 until its dissolution in 2013, Alan Chambers served as the president of Exodus International, an Orlando‑based Christian umbrella group that claimed to offer counseling and prayer to “cure” same‑sex attraction. At its peak, Exodus boasted 260 affiliated ministries across the United States and internationally, and its leaders – Chambers chief among them – were frequent guests on conservative Christian media outlets, where they promoted the so‑called “ex‑gay” narrative and lobbied against LGBTQ+ rights. Chambers himself had sought out the ministry as a young man, telling interviewers that he had hoped to “feel about women the way I felt about men”.
By 2012, however, Chambers began to publicly distance himself from the idea of “cure”. In an interview with the Associated Press, he declared, “I do not believe that cure is a word that is applicable to really any struggle, homosexuality included”. A year later, in 2013, Exodus International announced it was shutting down after 37 years of operation. In a formal statement posted to the organization’s website, Chambers issued a lengthy apology to the LGBTQ+ community for “years of undue suffering and judgment at the hands of the organization and the church as a whole”. He renounced conversion therapy and, in the years that followed, attempted to reinvent himself as a critic of the very movement he had once led, even delivering two sermons at the Washington National Cathedral during a Capital Pride celebration in 2016.
That complicated past now collides with a far more disturbing present. Investigators say that while questioning Chambers, the former ministry leader admitted that he had communicated on Snapchat with a person he believed to be 14 years old. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office has not indicated whether any evidence has surfaced linking Chambers to other minors, but the agency has made clear that its investigation is ongoing.
As of Thursday, May 21, Chambers has returned to his home in Winter Park, subject to the strict conditions of his bond. He has not yet entered a formal plea, and no trial date has been announced. For the man who once built a career on telling others they could change their deepest desires, the charges now pending against him carry a dimension of tragedy that even the most pointed sermon could never capture.
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