Anglican Scholar Brandon Meeks Admits to Taking Plea in Sex Crime, Falsifying Academic Credentials

Staff Writer

Anglican Scholar Brandon Meeks, the popular X user with 37,000 followers who writes under the handle @nojesuittricks, as well as the theologian-in-residence at Saints Anglican Church in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas, has deleted his entire online life and purged all his social media content.

The removal comes after Brian Mattson of the Square Inch substack accused him of falsifying his academic credentials and being previously being charged with a sex crime against a minor, accusations which Meeks has since verified are true.

In the article, Mattson details how several months ago, he sought out Meek’s academic work from his time at the prestigious University of Aberdeen in Scotland, which he also attended, out of great admiration for his previously published, “well-regarded essays at places like First Things, MereOrthodoxy, The North American Anglican, Ad Fontes, The American Conservative, and others.”

Mattson could not find a single academic paper of Meeks, however. Furthermore, he was shocked to find out that Meeks claimed to have attended during the same years he did, because he certainly did not remember a man with a “shockingly deep, Southern baritone with an exaggerated drawl” in such a close-knit community.

After asking several friends and faculty members, no one else remembered Meeks being there either. Through further investigation, using Meek’s own social media posts, things became clear: he was lying about his degree and time at the University despite boasting about it online in posts like:

Mattson writes:

“This is not a victimless offense. Brandon Meeks gained a great deal of reputational currency with his fraudulent credentials. Undoubtedly it went a long way to paving the way for publication in myriad online magazines and journals. It gave him “peer” status on X with many legitimate academics and scholars. Brandon Meeks stole prestige and credibility from the University of Aberdeen, stole a seal of approval from the late and beloved Howard Marshall, and thoroughly disrespected the many who invested great toil to obtain the privilege of a Doctor of Philosophy degree from an elite and storied institution founded in 1495.”

During his investigation into his life, Mattson further discovered that Meeks was charged with a sex crime in 2017. Specifically, he was charged with having “carnal knowledge of a juvenile,” with release day of 2019.

Tellingly, Meeks also did not post anything on X during that time frame.

In a follow-up article by Ministry Watch, author Warren Cole writes:

In a telephone interview, Meeks confirmed that it was him. “I was accused and took a plea,” Meeks said. “No admission of guilt. All of that is factual.”

He also confirmed to MinistryWatch that he did not complete his Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Aberdeen.

…Meeks told MinistryWatch that he was now simply “trying to live a private life” under the authority of his local church’s leadership. He further said, “all videos are coming down” that show him preaching.