Albert Benjamin Wharton was a pastor at several churches in Virginia, South Carolina, Alabama and Florida. In December 2023, he was arrested in South Carolina and extradited to Virginia where he was charged with twenty-two counts of indecent liberties with a child under age thirteen while in a custodial position and eight counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child.
The investigation into Wharton began with one of his victims coming forward. He is accused of sexually assaulting children at the Berachah Christian Academy in Warsaw, Virginia. Dr. Ben Wharton was the first pastor of Victory Baptist Church. He served as pastor there for twenty-six years. The Academy was a ministry of the Victory Baptist Church providing a Christian education to K-12 children, some of whom were allegedly victimized by Wharton.
He is out on $25,000 bond. He has a status hearing on April 22, 2024