A former church youth leader has been sentenced to jail for molesting a teenage boy, fondling the teen during sleep-overs at his house and staring at him while he showered, Wollongong Local Court has heard.John Macfarlane abused the boy during his stint as a youth leader at the Gateway Christian Centre, befriending the teen before committing the assaults.The 53-year-old was ordered yesterday to serve a minimum 14 months' jail for the abuse, with Magistrate Ian Guy rejecting claims Macfarlane touched the boy out of "curiosity".The offences, committed in the '90s, occurred in Macfarlane's East Corrimal and West Wollongong homes when the teen slept over after church activities.Macfarlane, who has a long history with several church groups in the region and interstate, was an active youth leader with the Wollongong centre, often taking boys to the movies or inviting them to watch videos at his house, facts before the court said.The victim soon formed a friendship with Macfarlane and the teen stayed at his home one night in 1997, sleeping on a mattress next to the man's bed, the court heard.When the teen awoke, he found Macfarlane rubbing his stomach before he placed his hand inside the teen's pyjama pants and molested him.The assault lasted for about 10 minutes before the victim rolled over to stop him.Macfarlane abused the teen for a second time in 1999, entering a spare bedroom in his home where he knelt over the boy and touched him.The teen pretended to be asleep but said the assault lasted for a lengthy period of time.The following morning, the victim confronted Macfarlane but the man laughed it off, telling the teen he had only come into the bedroom to "give him a back rub", the facts said.The victim reported the abuse to police in 2010 and MacFarlane was later arrested and pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated indecent assault of a victim under age 16.Describing Macfarlane's actions as a "gross and appalling abuse of trust", Mr Guy refuted the man's suggestion he had molested the teen out of curiosity and a desire to "know him in greater detail".The court heard Macfarlane had no prior criminal record.Macfarlane immediately lodged an appeal against the sentence yesterday and was released on bail, pending the hearing in Wollongong District Court on February 24.