CHEHALIS (WA)
The Chronicle [Centralia, WA]
August 28, 2026
By Jacob Farmer
Shannon Burgess resigned from Jesus Name Pentecostal Church citing “moral failure”
The former leader of a Chehalis church has been accused of grooming and sexually abusing two church members in a civil complaint filed in Lewis County Superior Court last month.
Shannon Burgess, former pastor of Jesus Name Pentecostal Church (JNPC), is listed as a defendant in the complaint. Other defendants include the church and Jesus Name Christian Academy (JNCA), a nonprofit entity that operates as a K-12 school within the church.
Multiple sources have indicated Burgess, 54, is also the subject of an active criminal investigation, though he has not been charged with any crimes.
Burgess’ civil attorney, Christopher Coker, of Younglove Coker & Rhodes PLLC, did not respond to a request for comment before press time. Coker filed a notice of appearance in Lewis County Superior Court on behalf of Burgess on Aug. 11.
Burgess resigned as senior pastor of JNPC in February, after leading the church since 2009. In his resignation letter, read aloud by an attending pastor during a service on Feb. 4, Burgess said he had experienced a “moral failure” that disqualified him from continuing as a pastor.
“I take full responsibility for my actions,” the Rev. Kenneth Bow read on Burgess’ behalf. “I offer no excuses and I do not minimize the seriousness of this moment, or the pain and disappointment it has brought.”
Another attending pastor, Keith Herion, noted “multiple acts of adultery that were committed over a space of some years.”
Prior to becoming senior pastor, Burgess acted as JNPC’s assistant pastor as well as a youth pastor. He had served as JNCA’s principal since its opening in 2000, according to the complaint.
The complaint alleges Burgess began grooming the plaintiffs when they were about 15 and 12, after he’d learned they’d been sexually abused — the former by a fellow church member. One plaintiff had joined the church at birth, the other when she was 18 months old. Both plaintiffs attended JNCA for years.
Instead of reporting the abuse to law enforcement, Burgess allegedly used his “role as spiritual leader to emotionally manipulate” them.
According to the complaint, Burgess allegedly instructed both plaintiffs not to tell their parents or authorities, “or to get counseling” — effectively isolating them from friends and family.
Over time, the grooming led to “inappropriate touching,” according to the complaint.
In 2011, Burgess, then in his 30s, allegedly molested one plaintiff in the church office when she was 16 — and continued to molest her until 2014, “when she put a stop to the abuse.”
According to the complaint, Burgess continued to “exert extraordinary control” over the woman in the decade that followed. She has since moved to another state to “get away” from Burgess and the church.
The second plaintiff alleges that, when she was about 15 or 16, Burgess requested she send him pictures “in her undergarments” documenting her progress with working out.
After she’d turned 18, Burgess allegedly began sending “explicitly sexual text messages” and told the plaintiff to send him nude photographs. Touching eventually progressed to a “sexual relationship,” according to the complaint.
Both plaintiffs describe a variety of injuries caused by Burgess’ alleged abuse, such as anxiety, feelings of worthlessness, emotional distress, shame and humiliation. Each believes the abuse has damaged her marital relationship and led to “physical manifestations of emotional trauma.”
Beyond the allegations against Burgess, the plaintiffs have accused JNPC and JNCA of negligence and failing to protect the plaintiffs from “foreseeable harm.”
“Defendants JNPC and JNCA had a duty to use reasonable care to prevent Defendant Burgess from using the power and authority of his position to target, groom, and sexually abuse children, including Plaintiffs,” the complaint says.
The plaintiffs further allege the church and school breached their fiduciary duties to the plaintiffs. They seek a trial and judgement for damages that include past and future medical expenses, wage loss and personal injuries, among others.
The plaintiffs’ attorney, Donna Mack of Emerald Law Group PLLC, said her clients “will pursue satisfaction of judgments from any available source,” such as assets belonging to Burgess, JNPC and JNCA, as well as any relevant insurance policies.
Alleged culture of “cover-ups”
According to multiple sources, JNPC leaders and affiliated ministers allegedly knew about the accusations against Burgess in February, but chose not to report them to law enforcement.
One source, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said the church has a longstanding “issue with covering up” allegations of abuse.
At least some have come to light.
Juanito “Johnny” De La Garza, an evangelist who’d led services at JNPC, was reportedly arrested in January on alleged rape charges out of Oregon, according to multiple sources.
In June 2024, Keith Hamilton Adams was sentenced to 18 years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of first-degree child rape and two counts of second-degree child rape. Adams was, for years, a member of JNPC and involved in youth ministry.
In his guilty plea statement, Adams admitted to committing the offenses against two victims between November 2003 and November 2006.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed alongside the initial charges, Adams was investigated by the Chehalis Police Department in 2008 after he reportedly confessed to his boss about a “sexual affair” with a 14-year-old girl. He then confessed to his pastor, “which caused a meeting of several people to take place,” according to the affidavit.
“Because of the meeting, it was determined the matter would be handled through the church, and no law enforcement action would take place,” the affidavit said.
Jessica Parrent is a singer and former member of JNPC who left the church in February, weeks after Burgess’ resignation. She had attended the church most of her life, and was raising her own family there.
In March, Parrent began posting videos to YouTube about her experience in the pentecostal church. The series is called “Diaries of a Deconstructing Oneness Pentecostal.”
In one video, Parrent describes an incident that occurred when she was between 13 and 16 years old and participating in a puppet ministry. During one practice, the man leading the puppet ministry, whom Parrent does not name in the video, called Parrent “sexy.”
“Even at that age, alarm bells went off in my head and I immediately went to the pastor,” Parrent said in the video. According to Parrent, Burgess later said the man “was told to stay away from me and leave me alone.”
“But I always felt that that wasn’t handled correctly,” Parrent said in the video. “I felt that I wasn’t properly protected, even though nothing did happen to me. But the problem is is that later it came out that he was abusing another girl my age. He’s currently in prison for that.”
The man, Parrent told The Chronicle, was Adams.
Parrent believes she, too, was groomed by Burgess, but never sexually abused.
“Burgess was my pastor from the time I was a teenager and closely pastored me including one-on-one private in person counseling, as well as phone calls and casual text messages,” Parrent said in an email to The Chronicle. “I was groomed in the sense of placing my entire life and trust in him as my ‘man of God.’ I asked his approval for everything from whom I could date and marry to what jobs I could take.”
After Burgess resigned, Parrent reviewed years’ worth of text exchanges between her and Burgess. She said the “grooming behavior” became apparent.
Parrent shared some of those messages in a Facebook post in March. The alleged exchange occurred when she was about 24 years old — and Burgess about 44.
One message from Burgess allegedly reads: “I DO have the answers… always.” In another, Burgess allegedly tells Parrent, “Btw I think your hair has been looking nice lately too.”
In another, Burgess allegedly says, “I love you and think a lot of your I will try to chat a little bit tonight.”
Parrent said she also witnessed close pastoral relationships between Burgess and her peers.
“It was normal to us,” Parrent told The Chronicle.
2013 charges against Burgess dismissed
Though the allegations made in July’s civil complaint have yet to be followed by criminal charges, Burgess once faced prison time for three Class B felonies.
In January 2013, Lewis County prosecutors charged Burgess with first-degree accomplice liability theft and two counts of false report of corporation after accusing him of obscuring his cousin’s employment with his construction company, SG Construction Specialists LLC.
Each charge was punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
According to prosecutors, Burgess allegedly made false reports to the Secretary of State in 2010 and 2011 so his cousin, Damon Burgess, could collect Labor & Industries benefits totalling $150,000 following Damon’s reported knee injury while working as a pipefitter. During that time, Damon Burgess continued to work as a project manager and part owner of the construction company, prosecutors alleged.
In his reports to the Secretary of State, Shannon Burgess allegedly “listed himself as the sole owner or manager of the LLC,” despite indicating he was one of two partners in payment claims submitted to the U.S. government for contracting work, according to the affidavit.
Shannon Burgess’ case was ultimately dismissed with prejudice, effectively closing the matter, after Damon Burgess pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree theft and two counts of forgery.
In his guilty plea statement, Damon Burgess said his work with the construction company was unpaid. He was sentenced to five months in jail, according to court documents.
New leadership and resignation aftermath
JNPC has been led by Senior Pastor Nathan Cox, previously of Red Bluff, California, since Feb. 11. Burgess had assumed the role from his father, Glenn Burgess, in 2009. Glenn Burgess founded the church in 1976, according to the church’s website.
The Chronicle emailed JNPC for comment Friday morning, but did not receive a response before press time. Multiple phone calls to the number listed on its website went unanswered.
Parrent said current church members have attempted to remove public posts from a local Facebook group in the aftermath of Burgess’ resignation.
“There have been numerous negative reviews removed from Google as well as deletion of negative comments made under the church’s social media posts,” Parrent said.
Parrent said she’s received “a lot of support” from former church members and members of neighboring churches since speaking out, “as well as support from some in the ministry within the overall fellowship.”
She’s also been “unfriended” and blocked by “numerous” church members on Facebook. Parrent said the online stalking and harassment has led her to also block individuals, including some who used fake profiles. She expressed being, at times, concerned for her safety.
By sharing her own experience, Parrent hopes to “shed light on spiritual abuse as well as provide a public forum for people to ask questions about what they have been taught.”
The Chronicle called two numbers believed to be associated with Burgess when reporting on this story. One call was answered Friday by an individual who said the number did not belong to Burgess and quickly hung up.
The other call went to a number no longer in service.
Victims of physical or sexual abuse, domestic violence or sexual assault can call Hope Alliance at 360-748-6601 or the Youth Advocacy Center of Lewis County at 360-623-1990.
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Editor’s note: This article was updated after publication to reflect a March update to an online recollection of events The Chronicle used as a source for this report. To reach Chronicle reporter Jacob Farmer, email jfarmer@chronline.com.
By Jacob Farmer / jfarmer@chronline.com