FOUNTAIN (CO)
The Gazette [Fountain, CO]
February 27, 2024
By Zachary Dupont
A former youth pastor from Fountain was sentenced to 14 days in jail and five years of probation on Tuesday for being convicted of sending sexually explicit images to a minor associated with the church.
Jeffery Williams, 39, was arrested by Fountain police in 2022 over allegations that Williams sent sexually explicit pictures to a minor. Williams was a youth pastor with the Salvation Army’s former location at 901 N. Santa Fe Ave. in Fountain from 2013-2017, police told The Gazette in previous reporting.
Williams was convicted of two sexual exploitation against a child charges — one a class-3 felony and the other a class-6 felony — at trial in 2023, according to court records. At Williams’ sentencing hearing Tuesday the prosecution elaborated on the actions that led to his conviction.
Prosecutor Melissa Bollig stated that in 2015, Williams sent explicit pictures to a minor he knew from the church, touched the victim in sexual areas and made plans with the victim to have sex at the church. Bollig noted that Williams and the victim did not follow through on the plans to have sex at the church.
“(Williams) groomed and exploited (the victim) as a child,” Bollig stated. “He was in a position of trust with the victim and the community.”
Bollig added that she was troubled by Williams’ comments in his presentence investigative report, stating that in her opinion he showed a clear lack of remorse and that he attempted to paint himself as a victim while minimizing his actions.
Bollig requested that Williams serve the maximum sentence of 90 days in jail, as well as an “extensive” period on sex offender intensive supervised probation (SOISP).
Several of Williams friends and family — including his father and wife — spoke at sentencing, advocating that Williams not receive a jail sentence. Some of Williams’ friends and family who spoke to the court said that it was just an isolated incident, and that Williams had grown since 2015, when the sexual exploitation occurred.