SANTA ANA, Calif.—A 60-year-old former Santa Ana church youth pastor pleaded guilty and was immediately sentenced Feb. 24 to 12 years in prison for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl.
The victim came forward to police in October 2018 and said Jonathan Lamont Jenkins started making “sexual advances toward her” in January 2018, according to police.
She was at a service at Starlight Baptist Church in March 2018 when she went to the bathroom, where Jenkins was waiting for her. The girl tried to get away, but he locked the door, choked her, and physically restrained her while he sexually assaulted her, police said.
The girl did not tell anyone and continued going to the church, police said, but on Aug. 5, 2018, Jenkins mocked her about the sexual assault and warned her not to tell anyone or he would claim the sex was consensual….