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Search warrants reveal more details of charges against Absher

Michael Absher appeared in Henderson County District Court on Monday

By Bill Moss, Published: August 16, 2025

The ongoing investigation into the founder and operator of a shelter for homeless teenagers has led to nine more charges of sexual offense involving a minor, jail records of the Henderson County sheriff's show.

Michael Lee Absher, the former Henderson County School Board member who was charged on July 30 with two counts of statutory sexual offense against a child 15 or younger, is now charged with seven counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and two counts of first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, jail records show.

Arrest warrants issued on Friday accused Absher of willfully encouraging an 8-year-old boy and 12-year-old to "engage in sexual activity." A video made at 11:30 a.m. Aug. 15, 2023, and obtained by law officers showed the two boys standing naked in a shower and laughing, the warrant said. A second charge of first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor arose from a video made at 10:01 p.m. April 21, 2024, showing a 13-year-old boy lying naked on his back, the arrest warrant said. Court records also show that a Henderson County grand jury on Aug. 13 indicted Absher for the two felony charges filed on July 30. A court date was set for Oct. 16.

Search warrants issued on Aug. 7 provided more details of the cases against the 35-year-old Absher, who is president and CEO of Only Hope WNC. Detective Richard Simpson, a former police officer, deputy prosecuting attorney and attorney from Indiana, said in an affadavit that he is currently assigned to the special investigations unit of the Henderson County sheriff's office detective division, specializing in sexual assaults, child exploitation and other serious felonies. On July 29, a sheriff's deputy who knew the victim's family notified the detective division that a family member had made allegations of sexual abuse of minor.

Detective Donnie Ross contacted the boy's mother and asked if she and her son could meet for an interview at the Child Advocacy Center at Safelight. The boy, who is now 15, told detective Ross and Simpson that Absher had sexually assaulted him in November 2024 and October 2024. The alleged victim also told the officers of a time when he and two other boys were in the shower with Absher when other sexual assaults had occurred. The teenager said Absher bought him a "weed cart," Rizz Bar and Pop Hit, which detective Stevens identified as slang terms for THC vaping devices.

Sheriff's deputies executed a previous search warrant at the Only Hope building, which is also Absher's residence, on July 31, at which time he was detained, searched and arrested. At that time detectives seized Absher's Android cell phone. The other search warrant issued on Aug. 7 was for an iPhone belonging to one of Absher's alleged victims.

Absher has remained in custody of the Henderson County Detention Center under a $300,000 bond since his arrest on July 31 on the first two charges. The new charges added bond amounts of $100,000, for the third-degree sexual exploitation charges, and $250,000, for the first-degree sexual exploitation charges, for a total of $650,000.

A graduate of East Henderson High School, Absher, 35, won support among elected leaders, businesses, grantors and donors for his efforts to help homeless teenagers — which he had been himself. He ultimately opened a home for homeless teenagers on Upward Road under the auspices of Only Hope. In arrest records and voting records, Absher's address is the same as that of the Only Hope.

During a first appearance in Henderson County District Court on Aug. 1, Assistant District Attorney Michael Van Buren asked Judge Gene Johnson to add a condition to any release order that would bar Absher from having contact with anyone under 18 years old should he be released from jail. Absher "runs a home for troubled and homeless youth and that seems to be part of the issue alleged by law enforcement," Van Buren told the judge. 

First-degree sexual exploitation of a minor is defined in state statutes as an offense when a person does any of the following:

• Uses, employs, induces, coerces, encourages or facilitates a minor to engage in or assist others to engage in sexual activity for a live performance or for the purpose of producing material that contains a visual representation depicting this activity.
• Permits a minor under his custody or control to engage in sexual activity for a live performance or for the purpose of producing material that contains a visual representation depicting this activity.
• Transports or finances the transportation of a minor through or across this state with the intent that the minor engage in sexual activity for a live performance or for the purpose of producing material that contains a visual representation depicting this activity.
• Records, photographs, films, develops, or duplicates for sale or pecuniary gain material that contains a visual representation depicting a minor engaged in sexual activity.
• Creates for sale or pecuniary gain material created, adapted, or modified to appear that an identifiable minor is engaged in sexual activity.
• Creates for sale or pecuniary gain a child sex doll of an identifiable minor.