Youth Pastor Admits to Sexually Abusing Boys, Prays for Healing

By Emily E. Smith
The Oregonian
May 21, 2015

http://www.oregonlive.com/hillsboro/index.ssf/2015/05/youth_pastor_admits_to_sexually_abusing_boys_prays_for_healing.html

A youth pastor admitted Thursday to sexually abusing two boys in the Hillsboro congregation of the Bethel United Pentecostal Church.

Dylan Ritterman, 28, pleaded guilty in Washington County Circuit Court to two counts each of attempted first-degree sexual abuse and second-degree sexual abuse.

Circuit Judge Kirsten Thompson imposed the sentence outlined in his plea agreement, which sends him to prison for six years and eight months.

Before the hearing began, Ritterman, who was out of custody, sat in the back of the courtroom with his wife. Later, he joined his attorney, Anne Tracey, at the defense table.

Prosecutor Kevin Barton told the court that the abuse began several years ago, when the boys were in their early teens.

Dylan Ritterman

Authorities learned about it last fall when one of the victims disclosed the abuse to his mother, who contacted the state Department of Human Services.

Ritterman abused the boys inside the church, on church grounds, at his home, in his car and in a grocery parking lot, Barton said. The contact included sexual touching, oral sex and an incident in which the defendant pulled down one of the boys' pants and kissed the teen's upper thigh, he said.

A youth pastor admitted Thursday to sexually abusing two boys in the Hillsboro congregation of the Bethel United Pentecostal Church.

Dylan Ritterman, 28, pleaded guilty in Washington County Circuit Court to two counts each of attempted first-degree sexual abuse and second-degree sexual abuse.

Circuit Judge Kirsten Thompson imposed the sentence outlined in his plea agreement, which sends him to prison for six years and eight months.

Before the hearing began, Ritterman, who was out of custody, sat in the back of the courtroom with his wife. Later, he joined his attorney, Anne Tracey, at the defense table.

Prosecutor Kevin Barton told the court that the abuse began several years ago, when the boys were in their early teens.

Authorities learned about it last fall when one of the victims disclosed the abuse to his mother, who contacted the state Department of Human Services.

Ritterman abused the boys inside the church, on church grounds, at his home, in his car and in a grocery parking lot, Barton said. The contact included sexual touching, oral sex and an incident in which the defendant pulled down one of the boys' pants and kissed the teen's upper thigh, he said.