Father of convicted sex offender sentenced for intimidating son’s teen victim
The father of a convicted sex offender was sentenced to jail for attempting to intimidate his son’s 13-year-old victim and her parents.
Harry Eugene Jenkins, 45, of 390 Snuff Ridge Road, New Salem, was sentenced last week to 45 days to just under 2 years in the Greene County jail, with credit for one day served.
His 23-year-old son, Jesse Jenkins, of 611 Brownsferry Road, Cumberland Township, was sentenced in November to 11 months to 47 months in jail, after he pleaded guilty in May to corruption of a minor and indecent assault of a person under 16 years old.
Cumberland police said Jesse Jenkins tried to have sex with the girl at her Crucible home in October 2015, and later asked her to perform sex acts on him. Police said he supplied her with beer and marijuana before the encounter.
While police were still investigating last year, between Nov. 9 and 23, Harry Jenkins went to the girl’s home multiple times and called the residence to try to talk to her parents. He asked them to convince their daughter to lie to police about the sexual relationship between the child and his son.
“She was to say that there was only kissing and no touching,” police wrote in court documents. “That would make it a bit better for Jesse.”
The criminal complaint said that Harry Jenkins also showed the girl’s parents $6,000 in cash and threatened to use “a team of lawyers, ready to take the children away from the parents” and to get Children and Youth Services involved.
Harry Jenkins also told the parents that his son, Jesse, was “thinking of taking his life if he has to go to jail,” the complaint said.
The 13-year-old victim overheard Harry Jenkins threatening her parents and was scared to cooperate with police, the complaint said.
Harry Jenkins was charged in January and he pleaded guilty in September to criminal solicitation for intimidating a witness or victim. Greene County Judge Lou Dayich ordered Jenkins to have no contact with the victims, pay a $1,000 fine and perform 150 hours of community service.