An Australian youth pastor from an Adelaide church has been arrested and charged in the US for allegedly sharing sexually explicit material involving children.

Daniel Menelaou was arrested last week by police in Atlanta, Georgia after he allegedly sent multiple videos containing abuse on the social media platform Kik.

The 28-year-old previously worked as a youth pastor at Futures Church, formerly the Influencers Church, that has several locations across South Australia.

Prior to taking up a role at the church’s Atlanta site last year, he had been at the Salisbury campus.

The ABC report that a warrant alleged the videos were sent by Menelaou between July 2024 and January this year.

The Roswell Police Department — along with Georgia Bureau of Investigations and Homeland Security Investigations officers — searched his home at Roswell, just outside Atlanta, on March 11.

According to an arrest affidavit signed by an officer, Menelaou said in a police interview he was sent “child pornography videos and images” by users on Kik.

“Daniel Menelaou talked a lot about his pornography addiction, and he stated that he deleted his Kik account several times over the last couple of years, but then reinstalled it,” an arrest affidavit said.

He has been charged with six counts of possession of child sexual abuse material.

The investigation is ongoing and there may be additional charges.

Futures Church condemned Menelaou in a statement, saying the situation is “abhorrent, appalling, and completely contrary to everything we stand for”.

They were “horrified by what has been revealed”.

“Until his arrest, we had no prior knowledge of any allegations or indication of wrongdoing,” a spokesperson said.

“The details outlined in the arrest warrant are deeply disturbing and stand in total opposition to our unwavering commitment to protecting children.”

The statement said Futures Church had a “zero-tolerance policy regarding any form of abuse”.

The church has terminated the youth pastor and stressed they are not responsible or affiliated with his actions.