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Church Musician, Youth Pastor Gets 50 Years After Impregnating 14-Year-Old Girl

Perpetrator has been registered sex offender since 2006

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Authorities have sentenced a former youth pastor to 50 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to sexually abusing four minors, including impregnating a 14-year-old girl.

Marvin Scales / Photo courtesy of the Ellis County District Attorney’s Office

According to the Ellis County District Attorney, Marvin Scales, 53, of Waxahachie, Texas, pleaded guilty to two counts of Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Young Child. The investigation began after a local hospital alerted police that a 14-year-old girl was in labor. According to hospital staff, Scales was present with the child and was “overly involved” in the delivery process.

Detectives obtained a warrant for the baby’s DNA and confirmed that Scales was the biological father.

The DA’s statement says Scales had acted as a youth pastor at a local church. Once the congregation learned about the first victim, more victims came forward, the press release says.

He often took the congregation’s children on overnight trips and let the children sleep over at this house. Victims disclosed that Scales would regularly have sex with them on these trips and overnight stays, according to the statement.

The release also notes that Scales installed a security system at his home. Scales used the security system to record a collection of his sexual assaults, which led law enforcement to discover more of Scales’ victims.

This was also not Scales’ first crime against children.

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Authorities said a simple background check would have alerted church leaders to his past crimes of sexual abuse.

Scales has been a registered sex offender in Texas since 2006 when authorities sentenced him to 10 years in prison for abusing an 11-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl back in 1998.

While the press release states Scales was a youth pastor at a local church, it does not disclose the church’s name. Several people claiming to be associated with the alleged church commented on social media that Scales was not a youth pastor but an active musician at the church.

The church in question had tagged photos of Scales playing the keyboard during its services. MinistryWatch contacted the church requesting clarification on Scales’s association. At the time of publication, we had yet to hear back.

Scales is not eligible for parole and must serve all 50 years of his sentence.

EDITOR’S NOTE:  Why does MinistryWatch report on sex crimes? These stories are tough to read and sometimes even tougher to report, but we think they are vital to our mission to bring transparency, accountability, and credibility to the evangelical church. To read more about why and how we report these stories, read “Why MinistryWatch Reports On Sex Crimes.” You can find that story here.

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Jessica Eturralde

Jessica Eturralde is a military wife of 20 years, a mother of three, and has worked as a TV and podcast host. She currently covers religion in the United States and the former Soviet Republics.

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