Former West Virginia pastor who allegedly sexually abused young girls for years indicted on charges in another county

SUTTON, W.Va. (WBOY) – A man who was arrested last year on charges related to him allegedly sexually abusing victims as young as three years old has been indicted again, this time in Braxton County.

John Radcliff, 58, was indicted by a Braxton County Grand Jury on Tuesday on multiple counts of sexual abuse, sexual assault and incest, according to the Braxton County Prosecuting Attorney’s office. He was indicted on 47 additional counts of the same charges in Lewis County earlier this year and is also facing similar charges in Harrison County and Nicholas County.

Radcliff, who was formerly a pastor in Nicholas County, was arrested in 2024 after multiple victims came forward and disclosed sexual abuse that happened between 1987 and 2019. The victims were children when the alleged abuse took place, with some reporting that Radcliff had begun sexually abusing them when they were as young as three years old.

Criminal complaints filed against Radcliff say that he forced the child victims to touch his genitals and perform oral sex on him. Witness statements detailed in the complaints say that the abuse happened in Radcliff’s home and vehicle and at other locations in at least four West Virginia counties. Most of the victims reported that Radcliff had assaulted or abused them multiple times and over a span of years.

Radcliff is being held in the Central Regional Jail.