A former soldier previously stationed at Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM) was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the sexual abuse of four young children who had been left in his care. Jonathan Gentry, 36, molested six children between January 2010 and February 2014. In August 2013, he was arrested and prosecuted in military court for sexually molesting two 13-year-olds, receiving a two-year sentence in military prison. Years later, four additional victims disclosed sexual abuse.
At the sentencing hearing, Chief U.S. District Judge David G. Estudillo said, “This is the most serious kind of conduct that comes before this court… The victims were helpless children. You were the monster that was living with them. You scarred these victims for the rest of their lives.”
Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller stated, “This defendant used threats of terrible harm to silence his victims. These children showed great courage stepping forward to report sexual abuse that happened when they were as young as 3-years-old. The children report being strangled or forced to drink alcohol so that Gentry could molest them. Such conduct must be punished by significant prison time.”
According to court records, in April 2020, two children revealed sexual abuse that occurred while Gentry lived on JBLM. One child was between 10 and 11 years old at the time; another was between 5 and 9 years old. Both reported that Gentry threatened harm to their families if they did not comply or spoke out about the abuse. A third victim, aged between three and five at the time of abuse, disclosed details to a trusted adult in April 2024. A fourth victim recounted being abused during a sleepover at Gentry’s home in June 2013; this disclosure came in March 2023.
On December 4, 2024, a grand jury indicted Gentry on five counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a minor, one count of abusive sexual contact with a minor, and one count of sexual abuse of a minor. He pleaded guilty on July 2, 2025, to three counts of abusive sexual contact with a minor and one count of sexual abuse of a minor.
Prosecutors requested a sentence of thirty years in prison for Gentry’s repeated crimes against vulnerable children under his care. They wrote to the court: “Gentry repeatedly raped and molested vulnerable children in his care. The seriousness of offenses like Gentry’s is measured both by the resulting trauma for these survivors and by its contribution to a national child sexual abuse epidemic. For decades, researchers have documented the staggering prevalence of child sexual abuse in America and the lifelong damage that such abuse inflicts on victims—from heightened suicide risk to increased prevalence of drug and alcohol use and myriad other mental health disorders.”
During sentencing, three victims described how their lives were affected: “my innocence was taken, my childhood was taken,” one said. Another told the court: “No amount of time he serves can compare to the loss of our childhood and the years that were stolen from us.”
Chief Judge Estudillo responded: “No words I can say will ever alleviate the pain and suffering you have gone through.” In addition to imprisonment, he ordered Gentry serve twenty years of supervised release after completing his sentence.
W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office said: “It is heartbreaking that these children suffered this abuse at such a young age, and by someone who should have protected them... I commend them for their steadfast resolve in speaking up to ensure accountability and attempt to protect other children from potential abuse. Mr. Gentry, as a former servicemember, had a responsibility to defend the vulnerable, not exploit them... While no sentence can undo what happened to the victims, I hope this lengthy sentence sends a message to other would-be offenders that the FBI and our partners will investigate and prosecute child predators.”
The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Zach Dillon and Kristine Foerster.
