Pennsylvania Pastor Sentenced For Getting Teen Parishioner Pregnant

A former pastor who acted as a surrogate father to a teenager he impregnated was sentenced to three to six years in prison, a month after a judge rejected a previous plea deal as too lenient.

Jacob Matthew Malone, who turned 35 on Friday, pleaded guilty to institutional sexual assault, corruption of minors, and endangering the welfare of children. The former pastor also will serve five months' probation and will be registered as a sex offender for 15 years.

The woman, now 20, told police Malone gave her alcohol as an 18-year-old and raped her on several occasions while she lived with him, his wife, and their children in Malone's home. Malone, who was her guardian, admitted he gave her alcohol but said the sexual encounters were consensual.

Sexual contact, which included kissing and touching, occurred almost daily during her senior year in high school.

"This is one of the times when the court system fails," said Judge Jacqueline Cody, adding that the woman was technically of the age of consent but that Malone had been acting as her father when he promoted the sexual contact. "You are serving a sentence much lighter than the crime deserves."

The sentence is at the top of standard guidelines. Malone will get credit for the more than one year he has served since his arrest in January 2016.

Under the agreement, prosecutors withdrew the most serious charge of rape. Prosecutors said there was a question as to whether they could prove the absence of consent.

The plea was Malone's second attempt at securing a deal for himself. Last month, the judge rejected as too lenient an agreement with prosecutors that would have given him a minimum of two years in prison. The woman also was dissatisfied with that agreement, saying "Jake" had taken advantage of her "mentally, physically, spiritually."

The woman agreed with the new deal prosecutors and Malone's lawyer presented, and the judge accepted it.

The young woman "is pleased he will be spending an additional year in jail," District Attorney Emily Provencher said.