Kenneth Adkins, pastor who said Pulse victims deserved to die, arrested for molestation

Georgia pastor Kenneth Adkins, 56, faces one count of aggravated child molestation and one count of child molestation after surrendering to authorities on Friday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. 

Adkins is notorious for his anti-gay comments, specifically a tweet he sent in the wake of Orlando, Florida's Pulse nightclub shooting, which insinuated that those who lost their lives deserved to die because they were gay. 

Adkins' tweets are now protected, but screenshots of his invective tweet are still circulating. 

Prior to the tweet, according to the Florida Times-Union, Adkins sent another tweet that said: "Dear Gays, go sit down somewhere. I know y'all want some special attention; y'all are sinners who need Jesus. This was an attack on America." 

Adkins later wrote that his tweet saying homosexuals were "getting what they deserve" was not about the Pulse shooting, but rather about local Jacksonville gay men who were trying to get a human rights ordinance passed in the town, the Times-Union reported. 

Adkins wife released a statement about the latest events in Adkins' life. 

"This young man was part of our teen ministry," Adkins' wife, Charlotte Adkins, said in a statement about the alleged victim, according to the Journal-Constitution. "Ken and I have treated him like family, as has our church. He is a deeply troubled young man, to be sure, but our thoughts and prayers remain with him even now."

She continued, "We are confident that Kenneth Adkins will be found innocent of all charges, and at that time we expect that the District Attorney and Georgia Bureau of Investigation will be as vocal in publicly clearing his good name at that time as they have been in besmirching his name around town and in the media over the past twenty-four hours."