PHILADELPHIA — Phillip Fisher Jr. is a pastor and former Republican ward leader who coordinates faith-based outreach for Philadelphia’s Moms for Liberty chapter.

He’s also a registered sex offender, due to a 2012 felony conviction for aggravated sexual abuse of a 14-year-old boy when Fisher was 25.

Fisher insists that he did nothing wrong, despite pleading guilty to one of 12 counts filed against him after an investigation by the Chicago Police Department, according to court records obtained by The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Fisher was living in Chicago at the time. But he’s from Philadelphia and has since returned and become active in local politics.

He is the pastor at the Center of Universal Divinity in Olney and works with Moms for Liberty, a national conservative organization that bills itself as a defender of parental rights, by connecting the Philadelphia chapter with other local faith leaders in an effort to grow the group.

He said his conviction is the result of a “railroad job” concocted by the political action committee for Lyndon LaRouche, a fringe conspiracy theorist who ran repeatedly for president.

Fisher, who worked for LaRouche’s organization, called it “a cult” and said he was set up while trying to break free.

His criminal history came as a shock to Vince Fenerty, chair of Philadelphia’s Republican City Committee.

Fenerty said he was unaware of Fisher’s conviction until asked about it by The Inquirer last week. On Friday, he demanded and received Fisher’s resignation as leader of the 42nd Ward, which includes the neighborhoods of Olney, Feltonville and Juniata Park.

A national spokesperson for Moms for Liberty did not respond to a request for comment about Fisher’s criminal history.

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