EDMONDS — A volunteer magician and puppeteer who worked with the children’s ministry at Westgate Chapel in Edmonds is being accused of fondling a young parishioner during Sunday school and sneaking his camera up the skirts of unsuspecting girls and women.
Prosecutors this morning charged Terry Jensen, 55, of Edmonds, with first-degree child molestation and two counts of attempted voyeurism. The incidents date back to 2006, when an 8-year-old girl reported that Jensen fondled her three times during Sunday school, according to court papers filed this morning.
Jensen allegedly apologized to the girl during a meeting facilitated by the church and attended by the girl, her mother and the church’s leadership team, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Adam Cornell wrote.
The girl reported that Jensen “got down on one knee” and asked the girl for another chance, court papers said.
In January, Jensen was confronted again with allegations of sexual impropriety with parishioners. Prosecutors allege that Jensen used a small camera to take pictures up the skirts of women and girls at church and on business trips. Jensen allegedly told Westgate Chapel officials he used the church’s camera to take pictures underneath the skirts of some of the teenage puppet workers behind the stage, Cornell wrote.
Edmonds police seized two of Jensen’s computers. They weren’t able to find any images that pertained to the allegations against him. Jensen allegedly destroyed a third computer and threw it in the garbage. Investigators were unable to locate the computer, Cornell wrote.
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