Boulder County Youth Pastor to Serve 2 Years in Prison over Relationship with Teen Church Member
By Alex Burness
A Boulder District Court judge sentenced youth pastor Jason Roberson to two years in prison Friday on a conviction stemming from a seven-year relationship he initiated with a 15-year-old congregant. Following his prison stay, Roberson, 35, will serve a 30-day sentence either in the Boulder County Jail or under a work-release program, depending on whether the latter has any openings. And after his release, Roberson will enter into 10 years of intensive sex-offender probation. Roberson pleaded guilty in April to sexually exploiting and stalking Danielle DesGeorges, now 24, while he was employed by Vinelife Church, located at 79th Street and Lookout Road between Niwot and Gunbarrel. In exchange for the plea, prosecutors dropped charges including sexual assault on a child in a position of trust and unlawful sexual contact. At Friday's sentencing, Roberson apologized and told Judge Andrew Macdonald that he's accepted blame for manipulating DesGeorges — even though he's said at various points leading up to sentencing that he was between 50 percent and 70 percent responsible. In a pre-sentence report, a probation officer wrote that Roberson "continues to minimize his accountability." "I know that my actions, my poor inexcusable actions some years ago, were just that — inexcusable," Roberson said Friday. "I know they caused harm and pain to everyone involved. "I was responsible to make healthy decisions at that point in my life, and I didn't." DesGeorges' mother and sister told Macdonald of the trauma brought about by those seven years of abuse, which included Roberson stalking and visiting the victim in her home, under the guise of spiritual advisory. "He had access to our daughter because he had established a circle of trust within our lives," said Janet DesGeorges, her mother. "He groomed, manipulated and abused our daughter. "She was at an age of extreme developmental importance, in which her abuser used her innocence for his own perverse needs. And so he has stolen our past. We have lost those years, never to be replaced." "He knew exactly what he was doing," added Sara DesGeorges. "This was a master plan of manipulation in order to continue and protect his obsession with my sister." Despite Roberson's statement that he had accepted responsibility, prosecutors remain unconvinced. "It was not OK, and it was not appropriate, and it was not her fault," said Adrian Van Nice, chief trial deputy with the Boulder County District Attorney's Office. "And any indication and allegation to the contrary is simply untrue." Macdonald agreed with that position. "The fact of the matter is this never would have gone this route had you not been in this position with this lady,"the judge told Roberson "This is an unbelievably tragic case, and I hope you understand that it's entirely your fault." The conclusion of Friday's sentencing left both sides of the packed courtroom in tears. But the case is far from resolved, as Danielle DesGeorges, who lives in Boulder, also is suing Roberson and Vinelife Church in Boulder District Court. The Camera generally does not identify victims of sexual abuse, but does have a policy of naming them in cases in which they initiate civil litigation. Five church officials also were issued summons for failing to report alleged sexual abuse of a child: Senior Pastor Walt Roberson, who is Jason Roberson's father, Executive Pastor Robert Phillip Young, Pastor Luke Michael Humbrecht, and church elders Edward Charles Bennell and Warren Lloyd Williams. Humbrecht already pleaded guilty in his case and was given a 12-month deferred sentence. The others are set to stand trail in November. Contact Camera Staff Writer Alex Burness at 303-473-1389, burnessa@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/alex_burness.
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