A former church leader from Albrightsville was sentenced to a county prison term on Thursday in Carbon County court.

Kenneth Mays, 28, was sentenced by President Judge Roger N. Nanovic II to serve three to 12 months in prison on a charge of corruption of a minor. Mays previously pleaded guilty to the charge in exchange for the district attorney’s office dropping counts of indecent assault and obscene/sexual material - dissemination to minors.

At the time of the incidents, Mays was a leader in the Full Gospel Tabernacle Bread of Life Church in Effort, where his father, Kenneth Mays Sr., is listed as a senior pastor.

Mays was arrested by state police at Fern Ridge.

Case history

According to an affidavit of probable cause filed by trooper Brian Shandra 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 victim’s mother said the snaps were from Mays, who was known to her and her daughter.

That day around 2:45 p.m., Shandra interviewed the 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.

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 screenshot of a sexually explicit photo Mays sent to the girl.

Mays told Nanovic, “I truly apologize for my actions. If I could go back and change what happened I would.”

Nanovic said he didn’t understand why Mays would engage in such conduct, saying, “You’re twice her age.”

The judge added, “This is more than bad judgment,” noting the contact between the defendant and Mays lasted over a year.

Nanovic continued, “You knew her age. What were you thinking?”

Mays said, “Everything just fell apart.”

Mays said he was working in support of his wife and daughter.

In addition to the jail term, Mays must register for the next 15 years as a sexual offender and was ordered to get a sexual offenders evaluation, follow all provisions of Megan’s Law as to registration and other conditions, have no contact with the victim or her family, have no unsupervised contact with minors, except his daughter, supply a DNA sample, pay court costs of about $1,000 and pay a $50 per month supervision fee while on parole.

It was also noted that Mays was found by the state sexual offenders assessment board to not be a violent sexual predator.

He was given credit for 11 days served in prison on the charge.

Nanovic granted Mays’ request to serve the remaining time on consecutive two-day weekends beginning on June 25 at 8 p.m.