Ex-Ark Encounter, Creation Museum band member gets 15 years for abusing teenage boy

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Friday, January 16, 2026

Michael Howard, a former member of TrueSong — the resident musical act of the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum in Northern Kentucky — has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually abusing a teenage boy for several years in the congregation where he served as worship leader.

Howard, now 37, was convicted of 28 counts of sexual abuse and one count of sodomy for his abuse of the now adult Timmy Goodman, WXIX reports. Goodman said Howard began abusing him at the age of 14 when he started working for the former worship leader at a furniture store in 2019, according to court records.

“This should have never happened. I would have never dreamed this would happen before it did,” Goodman was quoted as saying in court. “He sunk his teeth and claws into me, but know someone where he is going is going to look forward to sink their claws into his depressing and decrepit body.”

While Howard’s attorney, Brandon Moermond said his client was remorseful but did not apologize to his victim or the court and said his sins were already forgiven by Jesus.

 “This is horrible. I got caught up in something I never should have,” he said.

"All of my sins, past, present, future, all of them were covered by [the] blood that day of Jesus Christ, all of them. These too," he added, according to WLWT5.

Howard was arrested on Jan. 2, 2025, and charged with 40 counts of first-degree sexual abuse and 40 counts of third-degree sodomy. At the time of his arrest, he was a member of Florence Baptist Temple in Kentucky, where he joined in 2009.

A cached page from the church's website states that he began serving as their worship leader in 2022. It also states that he is married and a father of two daughters. Howard was one of the four original members of TrueSong, which was formed in 2022, according to a cached page on the group's website that no longer features him. The group's debut album, "Tell Someone," was nominated for a GMA Dove Award in 2024.

Court records show that Howard was a friend of the victim's family for many years, and the victim saw him as a role model before the abuse. That friendship became corrupted after Howard began sending the victim explicit messages over Snapchat and reportedly began abusing him at least four times each week.

Howard allegedly told the victim repeatedly that he "could not talk about it" and that the abuse "can never be known." When the victim turned 18, Howard allegedly asked him to say the relationship started at that time.

Goodman’s mother, Julie, told the court that her family is still trying to overcome the trauma from Howard’s abuse and betrayal.

“We discovered that our son had been groomed and sexually abused by someone we considered one of our closest friends,” she told the court, according to WXIX. “The trauma was so severe that we had to move Timmy’s bed into the living room. We are now remodeling the basement, hoping that removing reminders of the past will help.”