Former youth pastor sentenced for making child porn

TACOMA, Wash. – A Vancouver, Wash., man who volunteered as a youth pastor in Portland, Ore., was sentenced to 25 years in prison Friday for producing and distributing child pornography of two children he spent time with in his youth group.

Michael Scott Norris was arrested in 2006 after an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Vancouver police revealed he was molesting two siblings, a girl and a boy, and producing and distributing child pornography of the two children, U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan said.

The children were involved in a youth group at a Portland church where Norris volunteered at the time.

Norris has been in custody since his arrest in 2006. He was charged for his crimes in both U.S. District Court and Clark County Superior Court, where he is expected to plead guilty and be sentenced to 35 years in prison.

The prosecution will recommend the sentences run concurrently.

“Michael Scott Norris committed unimaginable crimes. For years, he molested and sexually abused a pair of siblings, a young girl and boy,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Dion, who prosecuted the case. “Norris was trying to inflict the maximum amount of psychological pain and damage on his helpless victims. His actions were calculated to destroy these children, to shatter them beyond repair.”

At Friday’s sentencing, U.S. District Judge Robert Bryan said “the most important part of the sentence was to protect the public.”