Sexual Abuse: Youth Pastor Arrested

By Kelly Maricle and Jannay Towne
WHO
August 8, 2013

http://whotv.com/2013/08/07/sexual-abuse-youth-pastor-arrested/

[with video]

Des Moines police arrested a former youth pastor and charged him with sexual abuse.

“This has been going on for a brief period of time, but I can’t go into details as exactly how long,” says Des Moines Police Sgt. Daniel Blom.

Police were contacted Monday by a teenage girl and her parents. The girl reported an alleged sexual assault perpetrated by 27-year-old Ryan McKelvey.

“Looking into it, doing their investigation, they discovered there might be a second victim. They made contact with the second victim and confirmed that there was an inappropriate sexual contact,” says Blom.

McKelvey is a former youth pastor at Heritage Assembly Church. The church issued a statement saying it is working with police. It goes on to say, “Our prayers and concern go out to the families involved.”

Pastor James Snow hopes the case is resolved quickly for the sake of the girls and their families. Snow says he was advised against talking to the media by the church’s attorney.

Police say McKelvey was no longer working at Heritage Assembly at the time of his arrest and the church is cooperating in the investigation.

McKelvey was arrested Tuesday and charged with two counts of sexual exploitation by clergy and two counts of third degree sexual abuse. He is being held in the Polk County Jail on a $100,000 bond.