{"id":2438339,"date":"2025-05-23T10:46:01","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T14:46:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/doj-hands-prison-time-to-man-convicted-of-heinous-church-attack\/"},"modified":"2025-05-23T10:46:55","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T14:46:55","slug":"doj-hands-prison-time-to-man-convicted-of-heinous-church-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/doj-hands-prison-time-to-man-convicted-of-heinous-church-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"DOJ Hands Prison Time to Man Convicted of Heinous Church Attack"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdoj-hands-prison-time-to-man-convicted-of-heinous-church-attack%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2438339&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A man from Missouri, Christopher Scott Pritchard, has been sentenced to over nine years in prison for the arson of a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.Pritchard, 49, pleaded guilty to arson and violating the Church Arson Prevention Act after setting the church on fire on April 28, 2021. Following his conviction, he was sentenced to 111 months in prison and ordered to pay approximately $6.97 million in damages to cover the church&#8217;s losses.<\/p>\n<p>Pritchard&#8217;s arrest came after authorities noticed he reeked of smoke and possessed items from the church. He had previously threatened the church&#8217;s bishop during an argument. The fire sparked a strong response from the church community, with leaders stating that, while the building was destroyed, the fire did not extinguish their faith or community spirit. Following the incident, <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >church attendance increased<\/a> as members rallied together, underscoring their resilience in the face of adversity.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>A Missouri man who was convicted for the 2021 arson of a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints church has been sentenced to more than nine years in prison.<\/p>\n<p>In December, Christopher Scott Pritchard, 49, pleaded guilty to one count of arson and one count of violating the Church Arson Prevention Act, according to a Department of Justice <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/missouri-man-sentenced-over-nine-years-prison-church-arson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news release<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp sentenced Pritchard to 111 months in prison.<\/p>\n<p>Pritchard was also ordered to pay the church $6,968,223.36 to cover the cost of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/small-town-sees-two-churches-hit-arson-attacks-single-night\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">damages<\/a> inflicted on the church.<\/p>\n<p>The church was destroyed by fire on April 28, 2021.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-embed\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3RYqFb72hWI?si=g16-Gn2TdX0HGbAf\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>The Cape Girardeau County Sheriff&rsquo;s Office later arrested Pritchard, who not only smelled like smoke but had various items from the church in his possession.<\/p>\n<p>At the time, Pritchard said he had had an argument with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nevada-allowed-to-continue-counting-ballots-received-after-election-day-judge-rules\/\" title=\"Nevada allowed to continue counting ballots received after Election Day, judge rules\">church&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s bishop and threatened to assault the bishop and also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/fire-destroys-historic-us-church-smoke-clears-sign-hope-seen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">burn down<\/a> the church.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There is no place in America for criminal acts against houses of worship,&rdquo; Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department&rsquo;s Civil Rights Division said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Civil Rights Division thanks its law enforcement partners for prosecuting this matter.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In 2022, as members of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/ap-devastating-church-fire-erupts-packed-service-least-41-worshipers-confirmed-dead\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">church<\/a> looked back, they said the fire destroyed their building, but not their church, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/2022\/3\/17\/23216967\/cape-girardeau-missouri-stake-center-fire-saints-receive-support-learn-resilience\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Church News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We stood in the parking lot and watched the church burn, and there were a lot of tears,&rdquo; said Bishop John Fulton, bishop of the Cape Girardeau Ward.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Even the neighborhood came and said what a great influence the church had been on them.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The building really meant a lot to many of the neighbors,&rdquo; Cape Girardeau Stake President Kevin Dickson said then. &ldquo;It was really important to them that the building was there. They felt a connection to it, even though they <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-says-media-will-debunk-trumps-debate-claims-then-brings-out-debunked-lying-dog-faced-pony-soldier-quote\/\" title=\"Biden Says Media Will Debunk Trump&#039;s Debate Claims ... Then Brings Out Debunked &#039;Lying Dog-Faced Pony Soldier&#039; Quote\">weren&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t members.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Dickson and Fulton noted that the fire led to an increase in the commitment of church members.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;People are coming to church, and they are digging in and working and getting involved,&rdquo; Fulton said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been exactly what you would expect from people who are recovering from challenges. They are redoubling their efforts and want to make a difference.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Had it not been for the fire, they would not have been back at church,&rdquo; Dickson said.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Missouri man has been sentenced to over nine years in prison for the 2021 arson of a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Christopher Scott Pritchard, 49, pleaded guilty in December to arson and violating the Church Arson Prevention Act. U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp sentenced him to 111 months and ordered him to pay $6,968,223.36 for damages caused by the fire that destroyed the church on April 28, 2021. The Cape Girardeau County Sheriff&#8217;s Office arrested Pritchard after he was found with items from the church and smelling of smoke; he had previously threatened to burn down the church following an argument with its bishop. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon emphasized that such criminal acts against places of worship have no place in America. Despite losing their building, church members expressed their commitment grew stronger after the incident<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2438340,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Church-Fire.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[55784,53480,36508,7076,33806],"class_list":["post-2438339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-church-attack","tag-conviction-2","tag-crime-news","tag-doj","tag-prison-time"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Church-Fire.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2438339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2438339"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2438339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2438343,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2438339\/revisions\/2438343"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2438340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2438339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2438339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2438339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}