Chad Sevearance-Turner, a man once lauded as an influential advocate for LGBT+ issues, has been stripped of his accolades due to a dark past that has come to light.

The former music minister, who served years in prison for sexually abusing a minor boy, was originally slated to receive the prestigious 2023 Harvey Milk award for exceptional LGBT+ advocacy.

However, Charlotte Pride, the leading LGBT organization in Charlotte, North Carolina, has now decided not to give out the award this year.

Sevearance-Turner’s past is a chilling tale of abuse and manipulation. In 1998, when he was just 20 years old, he was accused by three minor boys of sexual abuse.

All three boys were acquainted with him through his position as music director for New Harvest Church of God in Gaffney, South Carolina. The accusations were so severe that they were tried in three separate cases.

The first case involved a 14-year-old boy who testified that he spent the night at one of the other victims’ houses with Sevearance-Turner and woke up to find himself being fondled.

The boy also testified that Sevearance-Turner invited him to spend the night at his house, where he asked the boy how he would feel about a man performing oral sex on him. The boy was deeply disturbed by these questions, especially considering Sevearance-Turner’s position in the church.

The second boy, who was 15 at the time, testified that Sevearance-Turner showed him a pornographic video and later fondled him while they shared a bed.

The third boy, also 15, reported similar advances from Sevearance-Turner, who stayed at the boy’s home for three weeks and allegedly fondled him multiple times.

Despite the defense attorney’s attempts to discredit the boys’ testimonies, Sevearance-Turner was convicted in 2000 of performing a lewd act on a minor under 16 and sentenced to ten years in prison.

He served just two years before being released on parole.

Despite his conviction, Sevearance-Turner managed to maintain a position of influence within the LGBT+ community. In 2016, he resigned as president of Charlotte’s LGBT Chamber of Commerce after his child sex offender status became known.

Yet, he claimed that his past had not stopped him from being successful. He even led a push for North Carolina to allow trans-identifying men to use women’s bathrooms.

However, his past finally caught up with him when Charlotte Pride scrubbed his name from its website page listing this year’s “Champions of Pride” award winners after his child sex offense conviction came to light.

Sevearance-Turner, now 45, is currently listed on the North Carolina sex offender registry.

This incident serves as a stark reminder of the importance of thorough background checks, especially when it comes to individuals in positions of influence and the vetting process for such prestigious awards.