Alan Manning Chambers, the former president of conversion-therapy-promoting ministry Exodus International, has been arrested in Orlando and charged with soliciting sex from a minor following an alleged police sting.
According to Orange County court documents, Chambers was arrested by Orlando Police and charged with solicitation of a minor via computer, sending harmful material to a minor, and illegal use of a two-way communication device.
Local TV reporting states that a detective posing as a 14-year-old boy on Snapchat was contacted by someone claiming to be a 50-year-old man named “John David”.
Police allege the conversation later moved to Telegram and text messages, and continued for several months. Investigators reportedly linked the “John David” phone number, Telegram account and Snapchat profile back to Chambers.
Police alleged Chambers told them he believed he had been talking to a person on Snapchat who was 14 years old, but declined to answer further questions.
Alleged attempted meeting
Detectives allege “David” suggested meeting someone he believed to be 14 in April 2026.
When the meeting did not go ahead, he allegedly claimed he had been pulled over and could not arrive at the agreed time. Police say he then suggested the teen take an Uber to his office instead.
Chambers was stopped and arrested on Tuesday, 19 May 2026.
Exodus International
Chambers was previously one of the most prominent figures associated with Exodus International, which was for decades the best-known US network of so-called “ex-gay” ministries.
The organisation was frequently cited in political and religious debates over LGBTQ+ rights.
Conversion therapy is widely discredited by major medical and psychological bodies, and has been linked to increased risks of depression, anxiety and suicidal feelings among LGBTQ+ people.
Chambers became a public face of the “ex-gay” movement in US media before later distancing himself from claims that LGBTQ+ people could or should be “changed”.
In 2012, he publicly renounced conversion therapy and said he did not believe “cure” was an applicable concept for homosexuality.
“I do not believe that cure is a word that is applicable to really any struggle, homosexuality included, for someone to put out a shingle and say, ‘I can cure homosexuality’ — that to me is as bizarre as someone saying they can cure any other common temptation or struggle that anyone faces on Planet Earth.”
Exodus International closed in 2013 after nearly 37 years.
Chambers later appeared at Pride events, including delivering two sermons at the Washington National Cathedral during a Capital Pride celebration in 2016.
The case against Chambers remains ongoing.
