EDMONDS — Leaders at Westgate Chapel in Edmonds on Wednesday said they plan to provide police with the results of a lie detector test that was given to a church volunteer in 2006 after an 8-year-old girl complained his conduct was sexually inappropriate.
Prosecutors on Tuesday charged Terry Jensen, 55, with first-degree child molestation in connection with the 2006 incident. The girl told detectives that Jensen fondled her during a class at church, according to court papers. Jensen also is charged with attempted voyeurism after allegations surfaced that he took pictures up the skirts of women and girls at church and on business trips.
Church officials said they confronted Jensen in 2006 with the girl’s allegations that he became sexually aroused after he picked the child up and hugged her.
They said they didn’t know of any allegations that Jensen fondled the girl until the charges were filed Tuesday.
At the time, Jensen offered to take a lie detector test, according to a statement that church leaders released on Wednesday. The church’s attorney arranged the test and a technician concluded that Jensen was being truthful when he denied any sexual intent or contact with the girl, and he offered a plausible explanation for the misunderstanding, according to the statement.
Jensen was allowed to remain a volunteer with the Children’s Ministry. He was removed in January after new allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced. Witnesses reported seeing Jensen use a camera to take pictures under the skirts of unsuspecting women and girls. Church officials confronted Jensen and reported the allegations to Edmonds police.
“We were deeply saddened by these allegations and our focus became the healing of our congregation,” according to the statement.
Meanwhile church officials said they were surprised by the addition of the child molestation charge. They have since located the results of the lie detector test and plan to give the report to police and Jensen’s defense attorney.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
On Heraldnet
Read the statement released by Westgate Chapel on Wednesday at www.heraldnet.com.
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