A Kansas judge sentenced a former children’s pastor to almost 30 years’ prison time this week after the man’s conviction in a plot to kill his own family.

Former Crossroads Christian Church children’s pastor Matthew Lee Richards read Scripture during his sentencing hearing on Wednesday, according El mensaje cristiano (CP). He reportedly asked his family for forgiveness as Judge Jason Billam sentenced him to 188 months for the first murder conviction and 165 months for the second conviction. The sentences will run consecutively, Law and Crime reportado.

Richards pleaded guilty in March to those charges, El Informe Roys (TRR) previamente reportado. Prosecutors initially charged him with four counts of attempted first-degree murder, one count of attempted capital murder, and one count of aggravated arson.  

During the sentence, Richards’ sister blamed his actions on mental illness, CP informado.

Richards also compared himself to King David as he read Psalm 51, in which King David pleads for mercy after the prophet Nathan confronts him about adultery, CP informado.

“In the past 18 months while incarcerated, I’ve been given time to look back and admit my failures to myself and to God but no one else and I sought change to improve myself,” Richards said as he read from a prepared statement in court. “Because of that, it’s hard to put into words, but the words of David in Psalm 51 [have] repeatedly been my prayer. So I wish to read them today because David put it into words … my repentant heart, better than I ever could have.”

He went on to ask forgiveness and grace from his family and others, “which is something I know I don’t deserve again,” he added.

“I will live every day with that disgrace, but I hope to be like David. I choose to try and use my failures to continue to improve myself, and then help those I have disgraced recover along with me.”

Authorities say Richards stabbed his family members in the early morning hours of Sept. 16, 2023. Richards’s wife, Stephanie, and five children had various degrees of knife wounds, TRR previamente reportado.

Richard carried out the brutal knife attack on his family because he was facing foreclosure and wanted to keep his financial troubles under wrap, Law and Crime reportado.

Crossroads Christian Church released a statement on social media on Sept. 18, 2023, after the assault, saying church leaders were “shocked, sickened, and saddened” by the news. The church also pledged to cooperate with authorities during the investigation, and offered support and prayers for the victims and their extended family.

“The road to recovery will be long-physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually,” the church noted. “Please join us as we continue to pray for and stand with them. . . . We are all grieving with our dear friends who are deeply hurting in so many ways.”

Richards also taught seventh grade English at Christ Preparatory Academy, and his wife, Stephanie, was the director of Crossroads Christian Preschool and Parents Day Out.

Sheila Stogsdill is a freelance print journalist and digital reporter, primarily covering crime issues for KSN/KODE.