Church Leader Admits To Sexually Abusing Utah Boy And Paying Him Hush Money
Again I ask, why aren’t lawmakers doing anything to protect children from church leaders? Where are the bans on churches? Or, at the very least, children must be prohibited from coming within 1000 yards of a church or a church leader. Via KSL:
A former youth leader from Springville has admitted to sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy after police say he paid the boy thousands of dollars not to tell anyone.
Kevin Sykes, 55, pleaded guilty Feb. 9 to attempted aggravated sex abuse of a child and aggravated sex abuse of a child, first-degree felonies, plus three counts of forcible sexual abuse and four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, second-degree felonies.
Sykes was charged with sexually abusing a young boy for years, beginning when the boy was 10 years old, and giving the boy as much as $15,000 to keep the abuse secret.
Police said Sykes was a youth leader in his church and interacted with boys the same age range as those found in the pornography on his phone. They also said Sykes claimed to be “mentoring” the child at the time, which put Sykes in a position of trust over the boy.
[KSL]
Sykes will be sentenced next month, and he’s expected to receive at least 15 years in prison.
