Former Youth Pastor Gets 20-Year Sentence For Molesting Boys As Young As 11

A former youth pastor from Indiana has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for molesting boys aged between 11 and 13 for a span of about seven years, authorities said. The man’s attorney has asked for a lighter sentence.

Court officials said 46-year-old Scott Christner, who used to serve as a youth pastor of “The Olympians” youth group at First Baptist Church in Goshen, Indiana, was sentenced Wednesday by an Elkhart County judge to serve 20 years of his three 9-year felony sentences behind bars, NBC News reported. Christner’s attorney has argued for probation as the man also received two 7-year sentences for Class C felonies that will be served with one 7-year suspended sentence if he violates parole rules after serving behind bars. Christner previously pleaded guilty to 5 counts of child molestation.

Christner’s first molestation allegedly took place in 2012. The following incidents continued through mid-2019 before his arrest in November of that year. Christner was arrested after his friend found that he touched his son, NBC affiliate WNDU reported. Several other parents of victims came forward after Christner’s arrest.

Records filed in December 2019 at the Elkhart Superior Court revealed that one victim’s parent told investigators that Christner “was a trusted member of the church and was considered family.” The father of a victim who was only identified as victim 2 in court records said in the courtroom that he was unaware Christner would commit the atrocities when he brought his kids to “church functions,” “birthdays,” and other events.

The father of victim 4 said, “You molested my son at a party. There were other people around,” adding that the only reason Christner stopped was “because he got caught.”

One of the victims wrote in a statement that Christner led a “double life, pretending to be a kind, giving man, while also molesting kids.” Christner received a no-contact order to prevent him from approaching the victims since his arrest. During the sentencing, one of the victims reportedly sat a few feet away from where Christner was sitting.

Parents of some of the victims who attended Wednesday’s sentencing were reportedly visibly frustrated while Christner apologized, WSBT-TV reported. Christner reportedly expressed remorse for the things he did. He said he was hoping to be forgiven by the victims and their families, adding that he has been receiving counseling at home since news of his crimes emerged in 2019. He also hoped to receive a lighter probationary sentence.