MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The United States Attorney has filed an “emergency motion” to block the release of Lindsey Whiteside from jail, according to court documents.
Meanwhile, a date of Dec. 8 has been set for her federal trial to begin.
Whiteside is charged with two counts of transportation of a minor across state lines for illicit sexual purposes and one count of enticement of a child.
According to court documents, back in 2024, Whiteside was accused of counseling the child she sexually abused while in her role as a youth pastor.
The allegations stem from two different church-related trips, court documents state.
“Whiteside groomed the minor and her family over an extended period of time in order to gain their trust. Once the grooming was complete, Whiteside was able to convince the family to allow Whiteside to take their minor child across state lines in order to sexually abuse her,” court documents said.
Whiteside has previously pled guilty to the state court charges of sexual battery of a minor by a person in a position of trust or authority.
She was then sentenced to three years of house arrest and will be required to register as a sex offender wherever she lives, works, or goes to school.
The US attorney says Whiteside’s conduct shows she is a danger to the community due to her building trust between the victim’s family and herself to abuse the minor.
“Whiteside is a convicted sex offender,” the documents stated. “The United States requests that this court uphold the presumption, find Lindsey Aldy Whiteside to be a danger to other persons and the community by clear and convincing evidence, and order the defendant detained pending trial.”
Documents also say the rebuttable presumption shifts to the defendant the burden of producing evidence that the defendant is not a danger to the community.
Whiteside’s mother testified that many families are supporting her, documents state. However, the US attorney says one of the families has small children and that Whiteside has also had access to them since her conviction.
The US attorney says the Mississippi Department of Corrections’ ankle monitor location data shows that Whiteside visited the house of those supporters immediately after signing up for the sex offender registry.
“Whiteside’s mother admitted they were at the house to care for the sick child because of their close relationship with that family,” court documents state. “This is a limit of any GPS monitoring system. Officers watching those coordinates often do not know who lives in a house at which the GPS pings.”
This all comes after a federal judge on Tuesday imposed a restrictive 24-hour house arrest and a $60,000 unsecured bond for Whiteside, the former DeSoto County coach who was convicted on state charges of sex crimes.
Whiteside will stay in detention until certain terms are met, including housing that is compliant.
The state has asked and been granted a 24-hour stay on the decision to release Whiteside. She will be required to wear an ankle monitor, among other restrictions.