A new indictment filed against Kingdom of God Global Church “apostle” David Taylor portrays him as a money-hungry amateur pornographer who directed dozens of female church workers — including teenagers — to perform sex acts and send custom-ordered nudes.
Taylor allegedly threatened women with Satan’s wrath, expulsion from the church and spiritual consequences if they failed to provide explicit content, including photos and videos that he requested in detail — down to the high heels he wanted one teen to wear. Prosecutors revealed the alleged behavior to illustrate how they say Taylor controlled and exploited the workers while heading a conspiracy that involved forcing laborers to raise money for a church operating in suburban Detroit, Florida, Texas and Missouri.
The forced labor conspiracy indictment is the latest development in a federal criminal case that emerged one year ago when Taylor was arrested, charged and jailed as prosecutors likened the church to a sex cult. The new indictment, filed July 30, does not add new charges or defendants but expands the forced labor conspiracy section with graphic new details about two teenage workers while alleging Taylor and other church leaders conspired to assault, abuse and threaten laborers with eternal damnation if they disobeyed his orders and rules.
The alleged scheme raised approximately $50 million since 2014, financed a real-estate empire and bankrolled a life of luxury for the 53-year-old Taylor and the church’s executive director, Michelle Brannon, 57, a former Northville resident, according to the government. When investigators raided the church’s 28,295-square-foot Tampa mansion in late August 2025, they found $500,000 worth of gold bars in a locked safe and $60,000 in a closet in Brannon’s bedroom, foreign currency, seven Mercedes-Benz vehicles and two Bentley sedans.
In the indictment, prosecutors included graphic texts Taylor exchanged with women filled with threats, demands and dozens of exclamation points to illustrate the alleged scheme’s inner workings during a conspiracy they say lasted from April 2013 through at least July 2025.
“God The Father has ordained us to be together,” Taylor wrote to a 19-year-old church worker in March 2020. “Anything you resist that God ordains for your life will be met by Satan. … He’s going to destroy you if you don’t surrender honey.”
Later, Taylor increased his demands.
“I want you to show me your body now,” Taylor wrote in another text. “. . . I want to see my —– and your — and your —-! ! I told you I’m being more sexual with you now more than ever!! I want you to do it now!!”
Defense lawyers have criticized the government’s “thin case.” Brannon’s lawyer, John Rogers, said there was no evidence people were beaten, disputed the government’s description of church members being held hostage, and said members were free to come and go from the group’s churches and living quarters.
Taylor is not a dangerous or violent man and had cooperated with the government during the three years he was under investigation, the church leader’s former defense lawyer, Scott Rosenblum, previously said in court.
Any sexually explicit photos or videos Taylor received were consensual, the lawyer said, and none have been shared with third parties.
Taylor, Brannon and the so-called “Prophetess” of Kingdom of God Global Church, 54-year-old Riverview resident Kathleen Klein, face up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted of conspiracy to commit forced labor. Taylor and Brannon also face multiple counts of forced labor and money laundering conspiracy, both of which carry 20-year maximum prison sentences.
Taylor’s lawyer, Allison Kriger, and Brannon’s lawyer, George Donnini, could not be reached for comment.
Klein’s lawyer, Michael Bullotta, declined comment. But earlier this year, he said in a statement: “The government has made its allegations in an indictment alleging a single count against my client. That indictment is not evidence of anything. My client and I look forward to putting the correct facts in their proper context in federal court and have the utmost faith in the federal judicial system.”
Prosecutors allege Taylor saved photos and videos on his personal devices and shared them with Brannon and others.
“At times, Taylor and Brannon agreed to disseminate sexually explicit images Taylor received as another form of punishment and retaliation for speaking out about (the church),” the indictment reads.
Taylor lashed out at workers if they failed to raise enough money and would threaten to make them sleep in a garage at the Tampa mansion and deprive workers of food, the government alleged.
” … Take away food now!!” he wrote to underlings in May 2022.
Many of the allegations in the new indictment involve a woman who worked for the church in 2020 when she was 19. Taylor and Brannon demanded she engage in sex acts and send nudes to Taylor, according to the government.
“Satan … he’s going to destroy you if you don’t surrender honey,” Taylor texted on March 29, 2020.
In another text, Taylor told Brannon to talk to the teen about sending “sexy pictures” that showed her naked “with heels etc,” the indictment alleges.
The next day, the teen wrote to Taylor: “I absolutely fear getting kicked out and sent to hell ….”
Five days later, the teen, identified by prosecutors as F-1, sent a photo of herself wearing a thong.
“I want you to show me your body now,” Taylor wrote. “I told you I’m being more sexual with you now more than ever!! I want you to do it now!!”
The teen sent nudes.
“Taylor proceeded to explain in detail what he wanted to see,” the indictment reads. “F-1 then sent nude images of herself in positions Taylor instructed her to be in.”
Two years later, in 2022, Taylor focused on a younger church worker, an 18-year-old woman prosecutors refer to as F-2. Taylor and Brannon directed her to produce explicit images after agreeing to move the woman more than an hour away from the teen’s mother in Central Florida to Tampa, according to the government.
The woman, however, was reluctant.
“I’m not attracted or in love…,” she wrote.
Taylor issued a warning, the indictment alleged.
“You need to first understand if you ever betray me or turn for any reason even if you think I’m wrong about something God is already warning that He’s going to throw you into hell,” Taylor wrote.
In November 2022, the texts took a dark turn. That is when Taylor is accused of confronting the 18-year-old about photos she had sent him.
“Are you lying to me…?” he wrote. “You know to lie to me is very dangerous and can cost you your life right??
“There has already been 5 people who has actually died from lying to me,” he added, “and it was instant on the spot!!”
rsnell@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Nudes and sex dominate Kingdom of God church case with David Taylor
Reporting by Robert Snell, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Robert Snell, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
