Texas Worship Leader, Son of Church’s Pastor, Sentenced for Child Solicitation

A worship leader at a Texas church has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for child solicitation and indecency.

Jonathan Ryan Ensey, 37, the son of the pastor of Living Way Church in Conroe, was found guilty of grooming a minor and sending her sexually explicit messages, Bluebonnet News reported. 

Search warrants uncovered thousands of messages between Ensey and the child over the course of five weeks. One message had a picture of him in the pulpit with the shot being taken from below, with an accompanying message referring to oral sex with the victim. 

Evidence showed he also physically molested the child. 

When she became aware of the contact between Ensey and her daughter, the girl’s mother reported the situation to Living Way’s pastor, Randy Ensey, who is Jonathan Ensey’s father. When he failed to act, however, the victim’s parents contacted the Texas Rangers, whose investigation led to the arrest. 

Randy Ensey pleaded for leniency at his son’s sentencing and refused to agree that the victim was not at fault, per Bluebonnet News. Prosecutors also said Randy Ensey had pressured a member of the victim’s family and the child’s current pastor to intervene on Jonathan Ensey’s behalf. 

“This defendant used the child’s faith to victimize her. He took advantage of this child’s religious upbringing and twisted the profane with the divine to bend her to his lustful purpose. A church is supposed to be a safe place. It’s not supposed to be a place where predators target your children,” said Chris Seufert, Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney, who helped prosecute the case.

Jonathan Ensey will serve a four-year sentence for indecency with a child and eight years for online solicitation of a minor. He will serve the sentences concurrently.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and the Greater Houston Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory assisted in the investigation.

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