A Balaton man facing multiple counts of criminal sexual conduct with minors made his first court appearance via Zoom on Wednesday in Lyon County District Court.
Ethan Lennen Nelson, 35, is charged with one felony count of criminal sexual conduct in the third degree and three felony counts of criminal sexual conduct in the fourth degree for allegedly engaging in sexual contact with minors between 2014-2018 while serving as a youth group leader for Victory Church in Balaton, according to the criminal complaint.
Nelson served in a leadership role at the church from 2011-2020, the complaint said.
Each fourth-degree charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail, or a $20,000 fine, or both; the third-degree charge, which includes an allegation of sexual penetration with another person, has a maximum sentence of 15 years in jail, or a $30,000 fine, or both.
Nelson was released on his own recognizance without bail on the conditions that he have no contact with the alleged victims and witnesses and have no unsupervised contact with minor females. Nelson’s attorney requested that the court make an exception to the latter if it relates to family members, and the court granted the request as long as he has permission from family members’ parents. Other conditions of his release include that Nelson appear at all future court hearings; be of good behavior and obey all laws; does not leave the state without prior written court permission; report any address changes to the court administrator and his attorney; complete all required booking procedures prior to the next hearing if he hasn’t already done so; and stay in contact with his attorney.
An omnibus hearing was set for Aug. 19.
At the time of the alleged offenses, the complainants were at least 16 but under 18 years of age and were attending youth programs at Victory.
The issue was brought into public light last August when current Victory Church Pastor Matthew Cherry, representing the church elders, read a letter to church members, stating that the initial response from Victory Church leadership upon learning about the allegations was inadequate. Because of that, the church reported the allegations to the Lyon County Sheriff’s Department, according to the letter.
The letter, which was also emailed to the Victory congregation, stated that Nelson was informed he would no longer be permitted to be present on church property, attend churchrelated events, or contact minors attending the church or anyone involved in the allegations.
The church also consulted a third-party organization called Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (GRACE).
“This has been very challenging for our church community,” Cherry said in an interview with the Headlight Herald. “It’s been kind of one of those nightmare experiences. “We’ve really sought to take a victim-centered approach in our actions as a church to ensure that we provide support and care for (the victims). We’ve taken challenging but necessary steps to bring safety to our community and express support and care to victims.”
Cherry, who was not employed by the church at the time the alleged offenses took place, arranged to meet with Nelson to speak about the allegations he had received, which included accusations of Nelson flirting with underaged girls and that one had told another church member she received a picture of Nelson in a towel, the complaint said.
Cherry also said there were allegations of inappropriate messages being sent between Nelson and several girls.
According to the complaint, Cherry said Nelson admitted to engaging in inappropriate texts and photos with one of the girls but that he denied sending a picture of himself in a towel to one of the girls, and that the girl actually sent him a picture of herself in a towel.
Each of the alleged victims were interviewed by the Sheriff’s Department.
Complaints from the victims ranged from the exchange of texts and nude snapshots, to physical contact, including kissing, groping and touching, as well as vaginal intercourse.
Cherry said it wasn’t until recently that Balaton community members became aware of some of the details of what allegedly took place.
“It’s shocking all over again,” he said. “We were aware that could be a reality, so we’ve really just recently started to become more intentional with our process of healing. The way we approach that is to provide pathways of healing to people in our church community that they can choose to engage in or choose not to. They know that we care and that we’re healing with them.”
Cherry said the church has established a support fund, where dollars are earmarked to provide for professional counseling for those in need.
