Former pastor Jonathan Shaheen gets two-year sentence | Courts

A former Tri-Lakes pastor was sentenced Monday to two years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a child.

Jonathan Shaheen, 31, was accused of receiving sexually explicit images of two underage girls — one aged 9 and the other 5 — from a New Mexico couple in 2022, according to an arrest affidavit.

The affidavit says Shaheen expressed interest via text messages in having sex with both children as well as their mother, who sent the photos to Shaheen.

The FBI discovered Shaheen's cellphone contact with the couple while executing a search warrant at the couple's New Mexico home.

Shaheen appeared in court Monday afternoon for a sentencing hearing, where Judge Jill Brady was tasked with determining whether Shaheen would receive a prison sentence.

The terms of the plea deal, according to prosecutor Blake Whitcomb, included the possibility of a two-year stint in the Department of Corrections or an extended stay on Sex Offender Intensive Supervised Probation (SOISP) without jail time.

Whitcomb, during the sentencing hearing, argued strongly for Judge Brady to impose a prison term on Shaheen.

To emphasize the seriousness of Shaheen's actions, Whitcomb read in court several of the messages Shaheen sent to the victims' mother. In these very graphic messages, Shaheen talks about her desire to have sex with both victims; Whitcomb also notes that Shaheen received graphic photos of the victims and nude photos of himself that he asked the victims' mother to show the victims.

Whitcomb also said he believed it would be appropriate for Shaheen to serve time in prison because of a “clear” lack of remorse on his part.

“(Shaheen) minimized his involvement in this matter,” Whitcomb told the court.

Additionally, Whitcomb noted that probation recommended a prison sentence for Shaheen in its report.

In a statement read to the court, Shaheen attempted to tell Brady that he was extremely remorseful for his actions and that he wished he had done something to report the New Mexico couple to police. Shaheen also told the court that in his mind, it was all just “fantasy” and that he had no intention of following through on the messages he sent to the New Mexico couple.

Shaheen's attorney, Joshua Lindley, added that Shaheen's evaluator recommended probation and rated his client a low risk to reoffend.

After hearing Shaheen's lengthy statement, Brady decided that the accountability Shaheen was trying to show wasn't enough.

“The buck stops a little short in many ways,” Brady said. “I don’t think Mr. Shaheen fully appreciates that.”

Addressing Shaheen directly, Brady explained that the defendant was a “very willing” participant in the crime, and that expressing remorse for not reporting it to police was not enough.

Brady also responded to Shaheen's statement that the texts were “just a fantasy,” saying he strongly disagreed with the assertion.

“(The messages Shaheen sent) really don’t make it seem like it was just a fantasy,” Brady said.

Brady then sentenced Shaheen to two years in the Department of Corrections, with a mandatory three-year parole upon his release.

Shaheen was arrested by deputies just moments after Brady convicted him.

According to a now-deleted LinkedIn profile of the same name, Shaheen was executive director of the School of Rock in northern Colorado Springs and worked as a pastor at TimberCreek Church.