Marcus Kendall Turner: 11 Counts, Church Role, and Reporting

Marcus Kendall Turner, a 34-year-old former leader at a Powder Springs, Georgia church, was sentenced on February 20, 2026, to 25 years in prison without the possibility of parole, followed by life on probation, after pleading guilty to 11 child sex crimes involving a middle school boy he met through a church youth group. He entered the plea on February 9, 2026, in Cherokee County Superior Court, and Judge Jennifer L. Davis imposed the negotiated sentence eleven days later.

The 11 Counts He Pleaded Guilty To

Turner pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated child molestation, two counts of child molestation, four counts of sexual exploitation of children, one count of enticing a child for indecent purposes, one count of obscene internet contact with a child, and one count of cruelty to children in the first degree.¹

Beyond the prison term, the sentence requires Turner to register as a sex offender, permanently bars him from contact with anyone under 18, and prohibits him from contacting the victim or any member of the victim’s family. When he is eventually released, he will remain on lifetime probation under sex offender special conditions.¹

How Turner Reached the Victim

Turner held a leadership role at Worship With Wonders, a non-denominational church in Powder Springs led by senior pastors Myles and DeLana Rutherford. In May 2023, he invited a middle school boy to join a new youth group he had started called “Hangout Life Crew.” Prosecutors described what followed as a calculated grooming process in which Turner used his position and spiritual authority to gain the trust of both the boy and his mother.²

Over the following five months, Turner and the boy exchanged 12,691 text messages, many containing sexually explicit content that Turner solicited and shared with the child.¹ The physical abuse took place at Turner’s home in Cherokee County during August and September 2023.³

How the Abuse Came to Light

Church leadership at Worship With Wonders was informed of the allegations in September 2023. According to the Cherokee County District Attorney’s office, the church did not immediately contact law enforcement.¹ The victim’s mother later said she first learned of the abuse at a meeting arranged by church leadership, during which Turner himself confessed.²

It was the mother who called 911. The Cobb County Police Department opened its investigation on September 18, 2023, and when evidence showed the physical abuse had occurred in Cherokee County, the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office took over as the lead agency.¹

Dispute Over Turner’s Role at the Church

The nature of Turner’s position at Worship With Wonders became a point of contention after sentencing. The DA’s office described Turner as having used a “leadership role” at the church to target and groom the victim.¹ In a February 2026 Instagram statement, the Rutherfords said Turner had worked only in a “part-time administrative role” from 2017 to 2021, was “never a pastor at the church,” was “never hired to work as a youth leader,” and was not a church employee when the crimes were committed.⁴

Others close to the church challenged that account. The victim’s mother said Turner was presented to her as a church leader, and that was the basis for her trust. A former congregant, Talynn Madison Plyler, said on Facebook that Turner had baptized her on church grounds in May 2021, when she was 15, contradicting the pastors’ assertion that he had no responsibility over minors.⁴

The Mandatory Reporting Question

Under Georgia Code § 19-7-5, clergy are mandated reporters of suspected child abuse and must report within 24 hours of learning of it. Knowingly and willfully failing to report is a misdemeanor carrying up to one year in prison.⁵

The Rutherfords, in a statement posted February 21, 2026, said they had contacted police and reported Turner after meeting with “all the parties involved” along with other pastors and “local authorities.” The Cobb County Police Department said no one from the church filed a report and that the only report in its records was the one filed by the victim’s mother.⁶ As of the available reporting, no charges have been filed against the church’s leadership over the reporting question.

What the Mother and Prosecutor Said

After sentencing, the victim’s mother spoke publicly. “I trusted him, I trusted the pastors. I trusted the pastors as the reason why I trusted him because he was a leader in the church,” she said. She added, “All of my life I have protected my kids from this, and I just never thought it would happen in the church of all places.” She described her son as focused on school but struggling to trust people and hesitant about returning to church, and she said the legal process had taken more than two and a half years of “highs and lows.”²

District Attorney Susan K. Treadaway said the sentence “delivers justice and ensures accountability” and “honors a mother who stood firmly and refused to be silenced and her son who showed tremendous courage in coming forward.”¹

1
Cherokee County District Attorney’s Office. Marcus Turner Guilty Plea Press Release
2
Fox 5 Atlanta. Mother of Victim Speaks Out After Church Leader Sentenced
3
Fox 5 Atlanta. Former Cobb County Church Leader Pleads Guilty to Child Sex Crimes
4
The Christian Post. Former Worship With Wonders Church Leader Sentenced to 25 Years
5
Justia. Georgia Code Section 19-7-5
6
Roy’s Report. Georgia Church Accused of Not Reporting Child Molester