Reporting the Truth.
Restoring the Church.

By Daniel Silliman

 Pastor Al Force has led Oceanway Church in Jacksonville, Florida, for more than a decade. Former youth ministers accuse him of mishandling abuse allegations. (Photo courtesy of social media)

Battling allegations he mishandled allegations a volunteer sexually abused a child, Jacksonville, Florida Assemblies of God Pastor Al Force said he is taking two weeks off “to reflect on areas where I can improve.”

Former youth ministers Luis and Larissa Peña say that’s not enough. They want Force to resign. Until he does, they claim the church is not safe.

But Force, who has led Oceanway Church for more than 10 years, does not believe he made any major mistakes in 2020, when church member John Goodman was accused of molesting a teenage girl. And now that Goodman has been arrested in a child predator sting, Force believes his main task, as pastor, is to keep doing what he has been doing.

“It’s my heart to lead this church family,” he said in a July 12 sermon. “I understand that what I have to do is — my commitment is — to continue leading with transparency and accountability and diligence so that every child, every family feels valued, seen and safe.”

Larissa Peña told the Roys Report (RR) that Force has a pattern of prioritizing the church’s reputation over children’s safety. She says when she challenged Force after a second volunteer was accused of child sexual abuse in 2021, he told her that questions were “disrespectful.”

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Pastor Al Force preaches at Oceanway Church in Jacksonville, Florida. In a July 12 sermon, he said he would take two weeks off “to reflect on areas where I can improve” amid claims he mishandled abuse allegations. (Screen grab)

Peña said she and her husband Luis also got in trouble for telling other staff that the sheriff’s office was investigating.

“(Force) said, ‘Do you realize what you’ve done?’” Peña recalled. “He was freaking out. He said, ‘The news can come to our church now.’”

Force did not respond to an email and a direct message from RR. Oceanway’s board said that it cannot discuss specifics, but it disputes the former youth ministers’ characterizations of events.

“The church took those concerns seriously at the time and responded in a manner we believed was appropriate and consistent with our responsibilities to our members,” the church email said. “Our commitment has not changed. We try to love people the way Jesus does, which means protecting those who are vulnerable and standing with anyone who has been hurt.”

Scrutiny following arrest

The Florida congregation attracted local media attention after Goodman was arrested in a sting in late June.

News4JAX, an independent television station, said local investigators claim that Goodman believed he was in contact with the parent of a 7-year-old child. Court records show he was charged with allegedly using a computer to solicit a guardian for consent to sexual battery of a child and attempting to tamper with physical evidence.

He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Oceanway’s board initially told News4Jax that Goodman did not work with children in his volunteer capacity at the church. After the news organizations found photos of Goodman with children at the church, the board clarified he never held a supervisory position.John Goodman previously volunteered at Oceanway Church in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo courtesy of social media)

The church also confirmed this was not the first time that Goodman had been accused of hurting children. In 2020, someone called the state Department of Children and Families and alleged Goodman was sexually molesting a teenage girl in his home. Authorities launched an investigation but did not ultimately file charges.

Force told his congregation on July 12 that he had Goodman step down and stop attending Oceanway until the investigation was complete.

But that’s not how Luis Peña remembers it.

He told RR that Force’s first response was to tell people in the church that the alleged victim had “a history of lying, a history of manipulation and stuff like that.”

Peña knew the girl from church and objected in a staff meeting.

“I’m like, there’s no way,” he told RR. “Something else is going on here. This girl would not lie. … But nobody believed her because the pastor was telling everybody … she’s manipulating.”

Larissa Peña remembers Force pressuring members to take sides even though the matter was still under investigation.

“The issue was that he was telling people what to think and believe in that moment,” she told RR.

The Peñas claim Force also welcomed Goodman to weekend services. Only later, when some in the congregation objected, did Force suggest Goodman stay away for a while.

Church staff conflict

The Peñas, now in their 30s and no longer in ministry, say they had other conflicts with Force. They regularly clashed with the senior pastor from the time they were hired as youth ministers in 2019 to their eventual departure in 2021.Former Oceanway youth ministers Luis and Larissa Peña now host a podcast about toxic church cultures. They are speaking out about their former church despite signing a nondisclosure agreement, saying they no longer believe children are safe under Pastor Al Force’s leadership. (Screen grab)

They said Force’s communication with them was often unclear and sometimes seemed dishonest. They frequently felt disrespected.

“He wouldn’t call me by my first name,” said Larissa Peña, who was a credentialed minister in the Assemblies of God. “We had a big conference and I was on stage. … And he went down the line saying, ‘Hey, this is Pastor So-and-So, this is Pastor So-and-So.’ And then when it came to me, he said, ‘This is our youth pastor’s wife.’ … That really got to me.”

The couple believes they might have been able to work through those differences. But then a second volunteer was accused of child sexual abuse in 2021.

Luis Peña said he learned a 19-year-old youth group leader was abusing a 13-year-old girl, and he called the police. When he told Force, he said the pastor seemed unbothered. Even uninterested.

“That’s when the final straw came,” Peña told RR. “He looked at me and was just like, ‘Okay. Yeah. Let me know what happens.’”

‘Statuatory rape’ in church closet and stairwell 

The second volunteer accused of sexually abusing a minor was Virgil Ledon Radford III. Court records show he was arrested Sept. 2, 2021, on multiple counts of lewd or lascivious battery.

His alleged victim, a 13-year-old girl from the church, told the sheriff’s office investigator that Radford pressured her to send him “naked photos” and perform “sexual acts” until she eventually gave in. The “lewd acts” alleged occurred in a church closet, stairwell and on a church trip.Virgil Ledon Radford III, a former volunteer youth group leader at Oceanway Church, was arrested in 2021 on multiple counts of lewd or lascivious battery. He pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of child abuse and was sentenced to two years’ probation. (Photo courtesy of social media)

With investigators’ help, the girl recorded Radford confessing what he’d done. The 19-year-old described what he had done as “statutory rape,” according to court documents. He later pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of child abuse and was sentenced to two years’ probation.

Oceanway’s board declined to answer questions about Radford’s case, “out of respect for the privacy of those involved and the legal process.”

The board statement said, however, that the church “continues to maintain and strengthen policies designed to protect children, including volunteer screening, required training, and established reporting procedures.”

According to Larissa Peña, though, Force got very upset when she and her husband informed other staff members of the criminal investigation. She remembers Force saying they should not get involved and needed to avoid negative media attention at all costs.

“That’s when I was like, ‘I can’t do this anymore,’” she told RR.

The youth ministers resigned the next day. The Peñas said they signed a nondisclosure agreement in exchange for a $10,000 severance. After reports of Goodman’s arrest in June 2026, and the church’s statement that he had not worked with children, they decided to violate the agreement and speak out.

Oceanway’s board acknowledged the news of the arrest of a former volunteer was “painful for everyone connected to it.”

Pastor to return in August

The situation has been especially painful for Force, the church board said, compounded by “the significant strain that recent attacks have placed on him and his family.”

The senior pastor has been asked to rest, according to the statement. He will be welcomed back in August.

Larissa and Luis Peña hope Oceanway will take the time to reconsider.

“When a teenage girl comes forward with allegations, she deserves to be taken seriously,” Lusi Peña told RR. “When (Force) had the opportunity to be transparent after everything became public, he instead stated that John was never involved with youth or children. … Based on those actions, I do not believe children are safe under his leadership.”

Daniel Silliman is senior reporter/editor at The Roys Report. He began his two decades in journalism covering crime in Atlanta and has since led major investigations into abuse and misconduct in Christian contexts. Daniel and his wife live in Johnson City, Tennessee.

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