A church group leader who was accused of sending inappropriate messages to a teenage church member entered a guilty plea on Monday afternoon in Carbon County court to a felony 3 count of corruption of minors.

Kenneth Mays, 32, of Albrightsville, appeared before Judge Steven R. Serfass to enter the plea. In exchange for the plea the district attorney’s office agreed to drop counts of indecent assault and obscene/sexual material - dissemination to minors.

Arrest report

According to an affidavit of probable cause filed by trooper Brian Shandra of the state police Fern Ridge barracks:

At around 2:15 p.m. Dec. 13, 2019, the victim’s mother arrived at the barracks to report her 14-year-old daughter was receiving sexually explicit messages/photos on Snapchat, the affidavit says.

The victim’s mother said the snaps were from Mays, a man known to her and her daughter.

That day around 2:45 p.m., Shandra interviewed the 14-year-old victim with her mother’s consent.

The victim said that Mays, a member of her church, showed an interest in her sometime around August 2016.

Mays’ father, Kenneth Mays Sr., is listed as the senior pastor of Full Gospel Tabernacle Bread of Life Church in Effort.

The victim said Mays came to her residence when she was sick to bring her food, and that during this encounter, Mays, while giving her a hug, touched her butt through her clothing.

The victim said that after this occurred, Mays messaged her, apologizing for what happened.

The victim said Mays continued to contact her over the year, asking what she would do if he kissed her and had sex with her. She said Mays would send messages to her stating he loved her, and if only he wasn’t married, and wished she was older.

The victim said Mays began to send nude photos of himself to her.

Shandra saw a screen shot of a sexually explicit photo Mays sent to the girl.

Serfass deferred sentencing and ordered the adult probation office to prepare a presentence investigation report.

Serfass told Mays, under state sentencing guidelines, in the standard range, he faced a minimum prison term of somewhere between three and 12 months up to 84 months maximum.