Tracy Gordon Black

Introduction

Tracy Gordon Black is a 64-year-old self-proclaimed pastor from Pelzer, South Carolina, who ran a small outdoor worship ministry in Williamston under names including Mobile Outreach Ministry, Mercy Outreach Ministry and Sabbath in the Park. In the summer of 2026 he made local news defending his ministry’s decision to keep a registered sex offender in its congregation; in October 2026, the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office arrested him and charged him with six offenses alleging he had himself sexually assaulted a child under 11 on four occasions and possessed child sexual abuse material .

Background Information

Black’s ministry held weekly Friday worship events at Mineral Spring Park in Williamston, a town about twenty miles southwest of Greenville. Its notoriety began in April 2026, when social-media posts alerted town officials that a registered sex offender was regularly participating in the services; Williamston mayor Rockey Burgess ordered the park temporarily closed after learning of threats and planned protests, and required the ministry to apply for a permit to hold future events. The town denied the permit, and Black appealed the decision at a July 6 town council meeting, where he told the council: “There’s no kid/predator thing going on—that is so far from the truth… We’re trying to offer the love Jesus Christ offered, the hope that only he can do.” WYFF reported the group met in the park only once after that; Burgess confirmed Black was one of the group’s leaders .

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Charged; presumption of innocence. Black faces six charges that have not been tested in court; he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty, and investigators say more charges could follow.

The case against Black began with a report to authorities in September 2026. On Tuesday, October 27, the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office arrested him on six charges: four counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor in the first degree — all involving the same child, who is under 11 years old, with the four incidents alleged to have occurred on separate occasions — plus third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and possession of visual depictions or representations of a minor engaging in sexual activity, the latter involving real and doctored photographs. Sheriff’s lieutenant Graham McLellan told 7NEWS that “there was an electronic device that held some child pornography as well,” and told The Roys Report the charges rest on an investigation that “yielded probable cause that Black had committed sexual assaults against a juvenile victim as well as having possessed child pornography” .

McLellan also asked anyone with information about Black to come forward — “He’s not from Spartanburg, but these crimes occurred in Spartanburg. So, if he’s Upstate-wide, we want to ensure that there’s nobody else that may have been victimized” — and the department says the investigation remains open. Black’s bond hearing ended with bond denied, and he is being held at the Spartanburg County Detention Center .

Public Reaction and Consequences

The arrest flipped the summer’s script: the pastor who had publicly dismissed concerns about a sex offender in his congregation now faced child-sex charges himself. Mayor Burgess, who had closed the park in April over the sex-offender controversy, took to social media after the arrest to defend that decision, telling 7NEWS he did not regret it: “Am I surprised or shocked? No. Typically birds of a feather flock together… It doesn’t prove that I was right, but what it does say is that it gives a legal justification for my actions.” Burgess also wrote that the charges against Black are “a part of why concerns involving the safety of children deserve our full attention” .

Current Status

Black is in the Spartanburg County Detention Center with bond denied, facing four counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor under 11, one count of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, and one count of possession of sexual depictions of a minor. The sheriff’s office says more charges are possible, the investigation is ongoing, and no defense statement or attorney for Black appears in the fetched reporting. His ministry has no public future in Williamston: the town had already denied it a park permit months before his arrest .

Impact on Their Career/Life

Black’s ministry was already a pariah in Williamston before the October arrest — down to one park appearance since April, its permit denied, its defense of a registered sex offender the subject of town-council appeals. The six charges against its pastor convert that municipal dispute into a criminal record that will define whatever remains of the congregation’s name, and the mayor whose park-closing decision was once controversial now holds what he calls its “legal justification.” For the Williamston community, the case is a closed loop: the man who insisted there was “no kid/predator thing going on” now stands charged with the sexual assault of a child under 11 .

Sources

• WYFF, “Man who runs worship group at Williamston park arrested on child sex charges,” October 2026 — source
• WSPA via Yahoo, “ONLY ON 7: Pelzer pastor arrested on child sex charges in Spartanburg Co.,” October 2026 — source
• The Roys Report, “South Carolina minister who backed sex offender now facing charges,” October 2026 — source