IOWA
Des Moines Register
A former Des Moines youth pastor who pleaded guilty to sex abuse was sentenced to 15 years in prison this morning, despite his emotional pleas for the judge to suspend his sentence.
Polk County District Court Judge Karen Romano gave Ryan Matthew McKelvey, 27, the sentence this morning after telling him that she believed he was a “predator” who used his status in a Des Moines church to abuse two teenage females.
McKelvey was a youth pastor at the Heritage Assembly Church, 5051 N.E. Fifth St., until he lost his job sometime last summer. Church leaders had become aware that McKelvey had violated church policy by being alone with female juveniles, according to a statement from the church last year.
In August, a 16-year-old girl reported to police that she’d kissed McKelvey and that he made her touch his genitals, according to court papers. Through their investigation, police found another teenage female who also reported abuse.
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