ILLINOIS
Daily Herald
Justin Kmitch
A former Elmhurst church youth minister was sentenced to 10 years in prison Thursday after pleading guilty to criminal sexual assault of a teenage girl he previously mentored.
With his plea, 43-year-old Darin Evans, a former associate pastor and youth minister at West suburban Community Church, admitted to having sexual contact with the girl in parks, cemeteries, men’s restrooms, and during a religious retreat in Wisconsin.
The encounters began in 2004 when the victim was 16 and being spiritually counseled by Evans for “adolescent issues,” authorities said. The abuse lasted until about September 2005.
Prosecutors said Evans groomed the girl for abuse by showering her with gifts and attention while being in a position of “trust, supervision or authority.”
Some of the abuse took place in a vehicle outside College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn while the girl was still in high school. Prosecutors said Evans told the girl to keep the encounters secret and threatened to kill himself if anyone found out.
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