He wrote the book on how to love your spouse.
Then he allegedly got a second one.
Now he's in handcuffs – and the people who bought his book deserve to know why.
The Man Who Told You How to Fix Your Marriage
Leslie Williams, 62, ran Leslie Williams Ministries inside The Villages – the 130,000-person retirement community outside Orlando that bills itself as "America's Friendliest Hometown."
He wasn't just a pastor.
He was a marriage expert.
In 2017, Williams published Love Her Like This: Loving Her Has Never Been Deeper – a book promising husbands a "never-failing" love through biblical commitment.
https://twitter.com/ExxAlerts/status/2048847724427317407?s=20
The cover copy made a bold promise: it would show men "the depth of Christ's love for His bride as an example for every man to love his bride with the same strength, sacrifice and commitment."
He described himself in the book as "an apologist and teacher of the word of God with relevant and timely messages for the body of Christ."
He had messages for his congregation, all right.
Williams was arrested Wednesday at The Villages on a felony bigamy warrant out of Rockdale County, Georgia.
Investigators say he was already legally married when he took a second wife.
How His Own Facebook Page Exposed Him
The case started in Haines City, Florida, where a complainant reported suspected bigamy to local police.
Investigators didn't need much else.
Florida marriage records confirmed Williams was still legally married when he entered a second marriage – and that was enough for Georgia to issue a felony warrant on April 3.
His Facebook page filled in the timeline like a confession in slow motion.
Williams had posted about being married dating back to at least 2018. Then in December – still legally wed – he announced a new wife named Cindi, declaring himself "THE HAPPIEST MAN on earth!!" and swapping his cover photo to feature her.
One friend saw it and immediately knew something was wrong.
"Wow I thought you were already married. Congratulations!!" the commenter wrote.
Williams brushed it off.
Two months later, Cindi's photo disappeared from the page – replaced with a picture of a car.
His relationship status quietly changed from "married" to "single."
Three months after that, deputies arrived at The Villages with a warrant.
What Happens to Him Now
This isn't a slap on the wrist.
In Georgia, bigamy is a felony under O.C.G.A. § 16-6-20 – punishable by one to ten years in state prison.
Williams is held without bond at the Sumter County Detention Center, awaiting extradition to Rockdale County.
Georgia law offers one narrow escape: if a prior spouse has been continuously absent for seven years and the accused didn't know they were alive, charges can be beaten.
That door is shut.
Florida records confirmed his first wife was alive and the marriage was active – which is exactly why Rockdale County issued a felony warrant instead of a courtesy call.
The People Who Trusted Him
Here's what the arrest report won't tell you.
Williams didn't just preach at The Villages – he sold marriage guidance to conservative Christians who still believed a pastor's word meant something.
His book targeted men of faith who wanted to honor their wives the way Scripture commands.
Those people paid for that guidance.
Some of them are probably Williams' neighbors right now, riding golf carts past the county detention center wondering what happened to the man who told them how to build a marriage that lasts.
https://twitter.com/FactPoint/status/2049135515937718687?s=20
This is the pattern that should make every churchgoing American furious.
Self-appointed moral authorities who build platforms on faith – on your trust, on your values, on your wallet – while living the opposite way in private.
Williams isn't the first pastor to get caught running one life in the pulpit and another one behind closed doors.
He won't be the last.
But the people who bought his book on biblical commitment deserved a man who actually believed what he was selling.
Georgia has one to ten years for him.
That's a start.
Sources:
- Bonny Chu, "Pastor known for marriage advice arrested at rumored swingers community accused of having multiple wives," Fox News, April 27, 2026.
- Rockdale County Sheriff's Office statement to Fox News Digital, April 2026.
- "Pastor, 'Love Her Like This' author arrested for bigamy months after announcing new marriage," The Christian Post, April 2026.
- Georgia Code § 16-6-20, Justia U.S. Law.
