A university professor who has written extensively against LGBTQ+ rights has been charged with multiple sexual offences involving children.
John Kent Tarwater, 55, from Greene County, Ohio, is facing two counts of sexual assault, three counts of sexual battery and three counts of gross sexual imposition. The allegations span from August 2019 to July 2025.
According to Dayton 24/7 Now, one of the alleged victims was under the age of 13 in 2019.
Tarwater is accused of using force, or the threat of force, to compel the victim to comply with the abuse.
He has denied all charges. Bail was set at US$1 million, a figure his lawyer, Jay A Adams, argued was more commonly associated with murder cases. The Greene County Sheriff’s Office says Tarwater remained in custody at the time of publication.
Tarwater was dismissed from his contract at Cedarville University in October last year, according to the Daily Mail. He had earlier been placed on administrative leave in July after the university became aware of the allegations.
In an email to the campus community, the university’s associate vice president for human resources said: “Our understanding is that these charges do not involve anyone Dr Tarwater met or interacted with as a University professor … Even so, we desire to be transparent and ensure the safety of everyone on campus.”
Tarwater is due to appear for a pre-trial hearing on 28 April, with a jury trial scheduled to begin in June.
Anti-LGBTQ+ writings
According to The Roys Report, Tarwater, who is believed to be a father of 10, has published several works on what he described as Christian sexual ethics.
One book, published in 2005, was titled Marriage as Covenant: Considering God’s Design at Creation and the Contemporary Moral Consequences.
In 2021, he wrote Business Ethics in the Marketplace: Exploring Transgenderism for the Journal of Markets & Morality. In it, he argued: “If the transgender argument continues to take root in culture as it has begun to do so in the courts and legislatures, it will have devastating effects in both the church and the marketplace where Christians will be subjected to public criticism and further legal battles.”
