Youth pastor sentenced to 50 years in prison for impregnating 13-year-old girl
A former youth pastor has been sentenced to 50 years in prison without the possibility of parole for impregnating a 13-year-old girl.
The district attorney’s office in Ellis County, Texas, announced last week that Marvin Scales, 53, of Waxahachie, was sentenced to half a century behind bars after pleading guilty to two counts of sexual abuse of a young child, one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child and one count of sexual assault of a child.
The statement published by the DA’s office said Scales first drew suspicion from police after a local hospital reported that he was “overly involved” in the delivery process of a 14-year-old girl who went into labor in August 2023. Scales was present with the minor as she gave birth, prompting a warrant for the baby’s DNA. Forensic testing confirmed that Scales was the child's biological father, proving that he had illegally had sex with an underage girl.
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An investigation of Scales revealed his role as a youth pastor at a local church, and after word of his act of sexual abuse got out, more children came forward alleging that he had engaged in illegal acts with them as well. According to the Ellis County DA’s office, “Scales regularly took the children on overnight trips, and he would have the children sleep over at his house. Victims disclosed that Scales would regularly have sex with them on these trips and overnight stays.”
A report from ABC News affiliate WFAA listed the number of children victimized by Scales in his role as a youth pastor as at least four, including the 12-year-old daughter of the pastor at the church he was affiliated with. Scales allegedly had “sexual intercourse with her while the other kids were sleeping” during two separate trips to a water park. The girl reportedly spent up to two weekends a month at Scales’ home beginning when she was 8 years old and continuing until she was 12 years old.
Court documents obtained by WFAA state that the mother of the girl who gave birth to his child, who was 13 at the time he impregnated her, “knew what was going on and was ‘allowing’ it to happen in exchange for Marvin paying for her lifestyle/needs/wants.”
Although the girl’s mother claimed she did not know her daughter was pregnant “up until the baby was almost born,” Instagram messages between her and Scales documented a conversation where the mother told the youth pastor that she was “having to take ‘his’ girl to the doctor because she was tired of having the school call her and tell her that they thought her daughter was pregnant.” The message in question was dated April 2023, four months before the girl gave birth.
The DA’s office also noted Scales’ existing status as a registered sex offender that predated his impregnation of the 14-year-old girl and the presence of an “extensive security system at his home” that recorded his sex acts with children. The Texas Public Sex Offender Website shows that Scales has a criminal record dating back to 1998, when he committed offenses involving indecency with a child by contact and aggravated sexual assault of a child against victims aged 13 and 11 years old.
Scales ended up spending 10 years in prison on those charges.
“This is an unusually heinous case of child sexual abuse,” said Ellis County District Attorney M. Ann Montgomery. “When a person of authority — especially in a religious institution — is the abuser, it can be incredibly difficult for victims and their families to speak out.”
“We commend the bravery of the children who came forward to ensure that no other child suffered due to Scales’s abuse, and our hearts are with the children who could not speak out. With this sentence, justice is done for all of Scales’ victims. We hope now they, and this entire community, can begin to heal,” she added.
Montgomery told WFAA, “I know if I was pastor of a church, I would not want to have a registered sex offender with people spending the night with that person.”
The DA’s office said that Scales is not eligible for parole and will have to serve all 50 years of his sentence. Authorities did not release the name of the church where Scales worked as a youth pastor.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: [email protected]
