Leslie Williams was arrested on an outstanding warrant for bigamy. Photo / Sumter County Sheriff's Office
Leslie Williams was arrested on an outstanding warrant for bigamy. Photo / Sumter County Sheriff's Office
A Florida pastor who wrote a book on marriage advice has been arrested on allegations he had more than one wife.
Leslie Williams, 62, was taken into custody on April 22 on an outstanding bigamy warrant near his home in The Villages retirement community, according to the local sheriff’s departmentand Villages News.
Williams’ Facebook account offers clues to his arrest.
The pastor updated his Facebook status last December to “Married to Cindi”.
“Wow I thought you were already married. Congratulations!!”, a comment under the post read.
Six days later, he posted a photo of a woman writing, “Thanks for all the wonderful comments referencing my saved, beautiful and talented wife, Mrs. Williams! She’s saved for real, praise God!!!”
The Facebook post suggesting Leslie Williams was already married. Photo / Leslie Williams
Then this month, an officer arrived at Williams’ home to serve the out-of-state warrant.
He is being held without bond at the Sumter County Detention Centre while awaiting extradition to Georgia, the Daily Mail reported. According to jail records, Williams is still in custody.
Williams describes himself as “an apologist and teacher of the word of God with relevant and timely messages for the body of Christ”, Villages News reported.
Williams is the author of the book Love Her Like This: Loving Her Has Never Been Deeper, which uses biblical examples to illustrate its teachings.
The book “deals with common issues that arise in a marriage that have the potential to destroy the sacred relationship between a husband and wife”, according to the Amazon listing.
The pastor also runs Leslie Williams Ministries, which advertises that it is “preparing you for the end of time”.
The Villages, where Williams lives, is an enormous retirement community in Florida, detailed in the 2021 documentary called Some Kind of Heaven.
A review of the film by the Heraldsaid The Villages is home to 130,000 senior citizens, 20,000 of them single. It’s described throughout the film as “Nirvana”, “God’s waiting room for heaven” and “Disneyworld for retirees”.
