ARC Pastor Appoints Sex Offenders—And Exposes Himself to Female Volunteer
By Rebecca Hopkins
On Feb. 4, 2024, Pastor Benjamin Tubbs preaches as part of a "Red Flags" sermon series at Thrive City Church in Syracuse, New York. (Photo: Facebook)
One fall night in September 2023, Emma Misco arrived at her church in upstate New York to discover an unpleasant surprise.
At first, no one appeared to be there. Thrive City Church had
officially launchedin Syracuse as part of the Association of Related Churches (ARC) just 20 months before. Misco, then 34, had recently returned to Syracuse after serving on the mission field and was overseeing small groups.
Before setting up for a meeting, she headed for the bathroom, which ran through the office of the pastor, Ben Tubbs, then 36.
His office was locked as usual, but she noticed a sign on his door stating the office was available. She knocked, heard no answer, then unlocked and opened the door.
To her shock, Tubbs was there. Seated and wearing headphones at an open laptop, he hurriedly stood up. But his pants were down, and he had one hand on his genitals. She said he started walking toward her, fully exposed.
She fled.
A few minutes later, Tubbs joined her in the sanctuary where she waited for her group to arrive. He engaged her in small talk. When he turned to leave, Misco said Tubbs murmured something like, “We’re good?”
“Fine,” was all she could say.
imagine having the gall to invade a man’s private space and act like he was trying to rape you
