Pastor Convicted Of Sexually Assaulting Girls At His Riverside Home And At Churches

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA — A pastor was convicted Monday of sexually assaulting girls at his home in Riverside and at churches.

During his appearance at Central Justice Center in Santa Ana, Carlos Ramirez Valdez, 61, was convicted of seven counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a minor younger than 14 and three counts of oral copulation or sexual penetration with a child 10 or younger, all felonies. Jurors also found true a sentencing enhancement for multiple victims.

Valdez was a pastor of churches in Santa Ana, including the International Mission Church USA at 505 S. Main St., and from 2014-2017, he was a member of Iglesia De Dios Ebenezer Church at 2020 W. Chestnut Ave., according to police.

In one instance, he lured an 8-year-old girl into a van during a service and sexually assaulted her. Valdez repeatedly assaulted the girl in the van over a period of three years, police said.

The girl told investigators she was molested in second through fifth grade, with the first attack happening when the defendant took her to a van in a parking lot of the church, police said in testimony at his preliminary hearing.

Valdez also molested the girl in his home in Riverside where he showed her an adult film. He would lure her into the van saying he needed to comb her hair or required help with something and then touch the victim, police said.

Another girl said the defendant began molesting her when she was about 6 years old at a Santa Ana church, police said at the preliminary hearing. The sexual abuse continued as they resided together in Riverside, police said.

A third victim said the defendant began molesting her at age 9 when he was a deacon at a church, police said.

One of the victims told Riverside police in January 2020 she was molested by Valdez in 2017 when she was 8, police said. Also in January 2020, one of the victims went to Garden Grove police saying Valdez molested her in 2015, according to police.

Sentencing for Valdez was set for Oct. 24 at Santa Ana's Central Justice Center.

—City News Service contributed to this report.