Former Colorado youth pastor sentenced to 18 years for child sexual assault

A Colorado judge sentenced former youth pastor Stephen Hutto, 46, to 18 years in prison on Tuesday, after a jury convicted him on two counts of sexually assaulting a child nearly two decades ago. According to The Colorado Springs Gazette, Hutto faced three counts involving three girls who attended the youth program at Fountain Independent Baptist Church in El Paso County, where he was a youth pastor at the time.

An El Paso County jury found Hutto guilty on July 10 of two felony counts of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust, the Pueblo Chieftain reported. Both convictions involved the same 15-year-old girl, who dated the assaults to about 2008 or 2009. She claimed the two had sex more than 20 times.

Police arrested Hutto in March 2025 in Boone, about 50 miles away, where he was pastoring Highland Baptist Church. According to an arrest affidavit obtained by KXRM-TV Channel 21, a Fox affiliate in Colorado Springs, the victim told a Fountain police detective that Hutto began sending inappropriate photos after the two started texting. She said that while driving with her in his truck, Hutto pulled to the side of the road and sexually assaulted her, and that the assaults continued for about a year. When questioned by police, Hutto denied intimate contact with her, KXRM reported. Names of other victims surfaced as police interviewed the first victim, the station reported.

Judge John Kane also imposed a six-year prison term on the second count, to run concurrently with the 18-year sentence. Hutto has maintained his innocence. The Gazette reported that he could remain in prison beyond the 18-year term, potentially for life, if he fails to comply with the Colorado Department of Corrections’ treatment plan.

All three victims spoke at the sentencing hearing and described lasting trauma and difficulty trusting people close to them, according to The Gazette. One told the court that Hutto had violated her trust when she was 11.

Kane cited a pattern in Hutto’s conduct and a lack of remorse when he imposed the sentence. “You abused it, and there is abundant proof that it happened more than once,” Kane said of Hutto’s position as a spiritual leader, a plain lesson in accountability for anyone entrusted with spiritual authority (Luke 12:48). Deputy District Attorney Avery Stacy said Hutto’s supporters fostered a culture that discouraged the victims from speaking out, The Gazette reported. Stacy said one of the victims disclosed the abuse to a therapist, a mandated reporter, about 15 years later.

Sara Hutto asked the judge to order probation rather than prison, saying she feared her husband would die in prison because of his health problems. Supporters from his Boone church also asked for leniency.

The court had postponed sentencing in October after defense attorney Kevin Flesch said doctors needed more time to assess Hutto’s medical condition, The Gazette reported.

Source: Read the original report