Florida police announced this week that they arrested a “dope-smoking pedophile preacher” late last month, alleging he had sex with a 14-year-old boy and an adult male without disclosing that he was also HIV positive.

Timothy Chaneyfield, 42, a pastor at St. James United American Free Will Baptist Church in Winter Haven, Fla., was arrested while disembarking a flight at Orlando International Airport on July 29, police said in a statement.

Officers had previously attempted to arrest Chaneyfield while he was in Baltimore conducting work duties but were unable to engage the Maryland Department of Transportation Authority police, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Judd told reporters that the suspect, who has been a pastor since about 2020, is also a chaplain for Compassionate Care Hospice of Lakeland and had previously worked in the county school system as a substitute teacher.

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Judd alleged that Chaneyfield connected with an underage boy on a dating app before moving communications to Instagram, where he allegedly organized meeting up with him on three separate occasions for sex.

“On those three different occasions he wasn’t preaching … but he was messing around,” Judd said, adding that Chaneyfield allegedly met the boy at the entrance to the neighbourhood where the child lived.

The sheriff said investigators received a tip through Instagram about “illicit activity” between an adult and a child. He did not provide further details about the origin of the tip, but said Chaneyfield confessed to engaging in sex with the boy and allegedly showed “no remorse.”

Chaneyfield is also HIV-positive and did not disclose this to the child, Judd said, adding that police acted quickly in an effort to prevent the child from becoming infected.

Judd said a 26-year-old man who told officers he had sex with Chaneyfield has tested positive for HIV. Judd called Chaneyfield a “super spreader,” saying that police fear there are others who may have contracted the disease from him.

The sheriff also described Chaneyfield as “aggressive” in his pursuit of both adults and children.

“This guy’s nasty. He’s a menace to society, and he’s proven that.”

Chaneyfield was charged with three counts of lewd battery of a minor, three counts of interfering with custody of a minor, unlawful use of a two-way communication device, three counts of travelling to meet a minor, four counts of an HIV-infected person having sex without informing their partner, possession of cannabis and five counts of possession of drug paraphernalia.

He is currently being held in Polk County Jail, Judd said, describing him as an evil man who allegedly “took advantage” of children and people at the church.

“I would be shocked if there weren’t other children victims out there,” Judd said. “I would be shocked if there weren’t other victims out there. He was very active. He was very engaged,” Judd told reporters, urging anyone who may have had sexual relations with the suspect to alert police and seek medical attention at the ER.