41 year old John M. Scheline, a local pastor from Faith Assembly in Pasco, is asking for leniency in his sentencing after pleading guilty to charges of attempted second-degree rape of a child.

Scheline's lawyer has 10 people that want to speak to the judge on behalf of the pastor before making a decision on the sentencing, according to reports.

The maximum term for a sex crime is automatically mandatory life in prison, with the minimum being recommended by Deputy Prosecutor Andrew Howell to be 4 years and 11 months.

John M. Scheline was also a lead pastor of Bozeman Christian Center in Montana and was the executive director of Ignite Youth Mentoring until 2017.

The charges stem from a July 2017 sting where Sheline placed an ad in the classifides asking "that a married dad was looking for a young boy". Undercover detectives answered the ad pretending to be a Dad willing to give up his boy for sex acts.

Sheline described in detail what he was planning to do with the boy, then went to the apartment where they were supposed to meet. He left when there was no answer at the door and was arrested right after.

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