Adult Sexual Assault

Entries on these pages can contain arrests, charges, or indictments, which may eventually be reduced, dropped, or expunged, and as such, these actors may in fact be innocent in a court of law.

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2018 – Vida Abundante Church, Alton, IL. Melquisedec Chan (pastor) arrested for sexual assault of unconscious woman. Alton pastor arrested on sexual assault charge.
2018 – Calvary Chapel of Cape Girardeau (dissolved in 2007), Cape Girardeau, MO. Thomas Bruce (pastor) arrested after he shot a woman in the head for refusing a sex act. The incident occurred at a religious supply store. He then is alleged to have continued by sexually assaulted two other women. Report: Suspect in murder, sex assaults at religious supplies store was a pastor.
2018 – Grace Mountaineer Tabernacle Church, Brooklyn Center, MN. Meally Freeman (pastor) arrested for sexual assault of a female counseling client. Brooklyn Center Pastor Arrested for Sexual Assault.
2018 – Calvary Chapel of Cape Girardeau, Maryland Heights, MO. Thomas Bruce (former pastor) sexually assaulted two women inside a Catholic supply store. When a third woman refused the assault, he shot and killed her. Man charged in killing, sexual assaults at religious store.
2017 – Victory Church, Henrietta, NY. Paul Burress (pastor) arrested for “forcible touching” of two female adults. Henrietta ‘Fight Church’ pastor Paul Burress charged with forcible touching.
2017 – First Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Columbia, SC. Eduardo Elias Cornejo (former associate pastor) arrested for third degree criminal sexual conduct. The victim alleges “persuasion and physical force” were used to gain compliance. Former Lexington pastor arrested for sex crime, other victims possible say police.
2017 – Richmond Justice Center, Chaplain. Richmond, VA. Matthew Eli Mellerson (pastor) arrested and indicted for “six counts of carnal knowledge of an inmate and two counts of sexual abusing an inmate.” Pastor arrested for having sex with inmates at Richmond jail, Crime Insider says.
2017 – Memorial United Methodist Church, Neptune City, NJ; and West Grove United Methodist Church, Neptune, NJ. Cheong “Alec” Park (pastor) arrested for sexual conduct with a female counseling client. Methodist pastor in Neptune, Neptune City faces sex charge.
2016 – The Miracle Center of Faith Missionary Baptist Church, Capitol Heights, MD. Michael C. Turner Sr. (bishop) arrested for stalking, harassment, and unwanted sexual advances of a female church employee. The assaults occurred in the bishop’s office, copy room, and elevator. Maryland Baptist Bishop Arrested, Accused of Sexually Assaulting 22-Year-Old Woman.
2016 – Three Rivers Bible Church, Three Rivers, MI. James Bailey (pastor) arrested for criminal sexual conduct with an adult counseling client at the church. He is alleged to have plied her with wine “which she finished.” The abuse was tracked using cell phone texts, and Internet search history about an STD. Former Three Rivers pastor charged with criminal sexual conduct.
2015 – Grace Community Church, Lake Forest, CA. Sean Patrick Aday (youth pastor) arrested for sexual battery of four adult females. Initial charges consisted of “rape, sodomy, penetration with a foreign object and sexual assault.” At least some of the incidents “occurred inside the church or on church property.” Lake Forest Youth Pastor Gets 2 Years for Sexual Battery of 4 Female Churchgoers.
2015 – Walker’s Chapel Free Will Baptist Church, McComb, MS. Vansan Josea Oatis (pastor) arrested and indicted for sex with prison inmates (with 4 police officers). Local pastor indicted for sex with inmate.
2015 – House of Prayer for All Nations church, Klamath Falls, OR. Larry Marshall Murrell (pastor) arrested for forced “deviate sexual intercourse” with an adult member of his congregation. Local pastor arrested for sexual assault.
2015 – Church of St. Denis, Hopewell Junction, NY. Joseph Faraone (priest) arrested for “first degree sexual abuse.” He is alleged to have “abused a 50-year-old female patient at a local nonprofit human service organization where he worked.” Lotto-winning ex-priest faces two sex-crime charges.
2015 – Iglesia Alabanza y Adoracion, El Paso, TX. Noel Jimenez (pastor) arrested for sexual assault during an alleged “religious ritual.” El Paso pastor charged with sexual assault over ‘religious ritual’.
2014 – New Hope on the Plains Inc., Dodge City, KS. Jerrold Ketner (pastor) arrested “on suspicion of rape, aggravated sexual battery and attempted aggravated criminal sodomy” with an adult female. Dodge City pastor arrested on sex charges.
2014 – Power Pack Ministries, Little Rock, AR. Jacob J. Taylor (aka Carlos Norwood)(bishop) convicted for felony sexual assault and a registered level 3 sex offender. He is believed to use an alias name to assume positions of power and was recently arrested for parole violations. Update: Sex Offender Turned Pastor Arrested for Parole Violations.
2013 – Tubman-King Community Church, Daytona Beach, FL. John T. Long III (pastor) was arrested and charged for a sexual offense according to a criminal complaint. The offense occurred at the church with an adult female after Bible study. The pastor was fired upon the church board learning of the charges, but the State’s Attorney dropped charges due to expiration of the statute of limitations. The pastor moved on to a new congregation: Raising Up Nations World Ministries as an executive pastor. Former Daytona pastor leaves church, under police investigation.
2013 – Unidentified church, Ashe County, NC. Billy Howard Guy (pastor) charged with six counts of sexually molesting a mentally disabled woman. Ashe Co. pastor accused of sex offense with person in his care.
2012 – Galilee Episcopal Church, Virginia Beach, VA. Jeffrey Bondi (former youth minister) arrested for sexual assault of an adult female. Former youth pastor charged with sexual assault; Faces 5 years to life in prison.
2012 – Las Buenas Nuevas Church, Santa Fe Springs, CA. Jorge Juan Castro (associate pastor) arrested for sexual assault of immigrant woman. “Investigators say he used their illegal status in the U.S. to cower them into silence.” Norwalk pastor arrested for sexual assault.
2011 – Delio Martin Ospino (pastor) arrested for sexual assault and false imprisonment of a female adult. He was found guilty. Colton pastor arrested in sexual assault.
2007 – El Nuevo Nacimiento Church, Lincoln, NE. Efrain Umaña (pastor) arrested for sexual assault of an adult female. He allegedly “went to a Council Bluffs woman’s house…and forced her to have sex with him while her husband was away.” His ministerial credentials were revoked in 2009 by a church board. Former Lincoln pastor arrested on sex assault charges.
2007 – Father’s House, Portland, OR. Sergio Alvarizares (pastor) arrested and charged with “first-degree rape, first-degree attempted rape and first-degree sexual abuse in connection with eight women.” All victims were of adult age. He allegedly lured them with a pretext of counseling and then had sex in the office. Pastor arrested on sex charges.
2005 – Grace Brethren Church, Mansfield, OH. John Picard (former pastor) convicted on 42 counts of sexual battery with six female parishioners. 1) Ex-Wife Testifies In Former Pastor’s Sex Trial. 2) State v Picard 2014-Ohio-2924.
2003 – First Baptist Church, Hondo, TX. John O. McKay Jr. (pastor) arrested for sex assault on a female parishioner he was counseling. According to the investigator’s affidavit, “McKay used his position as the girl’s spiritual adviser to exploit her emotional dependency.” The pastor resigned at the church’s request. Hondo pastor arrested on sex charge.