Santa Ana, California pastor charged with sexually assaulting 3 girls under age 10
(The AEGIS Alliance) – A male Santa Ana pastor is facing charges of sexually assaulting 3 young underage girls from his church, and prosecutors are looking for the general public’s assistance to determine additional possible victims, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday.
57-year-old Riverside man Carlos Ramirez Valdez is facing a total of 8 felony counts that include 5 for lewd or lascivious acts with a minor under 14 years of age, as well as 3 counts of oral sexual relation or sex-related penetration of a child 10 years of age or younger, the DA’s office said a press release.
Valdez is implicated in sexually assaulting young underage girls between 2014 and 2019, starting when they had each been under 10 years of age.
Valdez the accused is presently a pastor for Santa Ana’s International Mission Church USA, and also from 2014 to 2017 he attended the Iglesia De Dios Ebenezer Church in Santa Ana, prosecutors pointed out.
It is suspected that Valdez repeatedly sexually assaulted one of the victims throughout a 3 year period that started when she was only 8 years old. Valdez purportedly enticed the youngster to get into his van at the church parking area or in the church’s basement.
The girl stated later that she had been abused by the school counselor, the DA’s office stated.
A couple of additional cases had been reported in January of 2020. The first case surfaced when a girl reported Valdez to the Garden Grove Police Department and stated he had sexually assaulted her during 2015, while the at that time age 9 girl got a ride from Valdez on her way home from the church.
An additional girl informed the Riverside Police Department that Valdez had sexually assaulted her when she was of 8 years old in 2017, while she was playing outside, prosecutors pointed out.
Authorities arrested Valdez this past Friday, jail records indicate. A booking photo has not been released.
If found guilty of the charges, Carlos Ramirez Valdez is facing a potential 120 years to a life prison sentence.
Valdez is due to be arraigned on October 6 and is currently locked up at the Theo Lacy Facility in Orange on a $1 million bond.
Investigators strongly believe Carlos Ramirez Valdez may have preyed on additional victims because of his access to kids with his position as a pastor. Anybody who has relevant information concerning additional potential victims is urged to get in touch with Santa Ana Police Department Detective J. Gaeta by phoning 714-245-8350 or by sending an email to jgaeta@santa-ana.org.
Tips may likewise be provided anonymously by calling the Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1-855-847-6227.
Kyle James Lee – The AEGIS Alliance – This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
