A Meridian youth pastor sexually assaulted a teen. Here’s his prison sentence
A Meridian youth pastor has been sentenced to a long prison term for the yearlong abuse of a teenage girl he met through his church.
Isaiah Teague, 25, will spend at least the next 20 years — and possibly his entire life — in prison after pleading guilty to felony lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor, according to a news release from the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office.
He’s also prohibited from contacting the girl he abused and any minors, the release said.
The girl was 14 when Teague began grooming her in June 2024, according to Tuesday’s news release. He repeatedly sexually assaulted her and threatened to make her “disappear” if she reported the abuse, the release said.
The girl’s mother eventually discovered text messages on her daughter’s phone reporting the sexual assault to a friend, according to the release.
Teague initially was charged with five felonies, including four counts of lewd conduct with a child under 16, court records showed. In November, he pleaded guilty to one of the felony counts and as part of a deal that dismissed the other charges.
The prosecutor’s office said that despite admitting to the abuse, Teague “repeatedly characterized it as consensual.”
District Judge Cynthia Yee-Wallace, of Idaho’s 4th Judicial District, found that Teague minimized his actions, blamed the victim and posed a high risk of committing similar crimes in the future, the release said. The judge also described his conduct as “offensive to justice,” given the betrayal of his actions while publicly lecturing youths about morality, according to the release.
Ada County Prosecutor Jan Bennetts called the life sentence a reflection of the “profound betrayal” and “permanent harm” caused by Teague.
“This defendant held himself out as a trusted adult while repeatedly sexually abusing a child and using threats to keep her silent,” Bennetts said.
