CA Pastor Pleads Guilty to Abuse
MinistryWatch reported on one survivor last year. Now, there are four more.
A California pastor arrested last year for allegedly molesting a minor has pleaded guilty to forcible rape and child molestation. The plea now involves 19 charges and five underage victims. 
Last December, MinistryWatch reported on the arrest of Victor Manuel Hernandez-Pineda, 54, after the victim (who is now an adult) told her parents that Hernandez had sexually abused her when she was a child.
Hernandez was the pastor at Iglesia Pentecostes Movimiento De Gloria, a church for Central American immigrants in Richmond, California, at the time of his arrest.
The first charges brought against Hernandez included three counts of kidnapping and four counts of molesting a girl under the age of 14. According to the abuse survivor, Karen Cifuentes (who is now 22 years old), the abuse happened over a decade ago.
Last year, Cifuentes told her parents that when she was 13, Hernandez convinced her it was God’s will that they have sex.
Cifuentes said Hernandez would pose as a family member, check her out of school, and then take her to a hotel to have sex despite her telling the pastor she didn’t feel safe. Cifuentes says he sexually abused her five times over three years.
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I-Team 7 News claims they received several complaints from church families after “police would not return their calls,” saying Hernandez had sexually abused their daughters.
The pastor agreed to a plea deal that will give him seven years in prison for the forcible rape of a child victim over 14 (a felony charge) and four misdemeanor counts of child molestation with four different victims. The sentences are to be served concurrently.
Following the plea, Cifuentes’ father, Pablo Cifuentes, told Univision 14 that seven years is not enough. “I think the damage is very great, what he did to my daughter and my family (…). That was very frustrating for me to hear it,” he said.
Hernandez-Pineda’s final sentencing is scheduled for February 27.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Why does MinistryWatch report on sex crimes? These stories are tough to read and sometimes even tougher to report, but we think they are vital to our mission to bring transparency, accountability, and credibility to the evangelical church. To read more about why and how we report these stories, read “Why MinistryWatch Reports On Sex Crimes.” You can find that story here.
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