Wildomar Pastor Formally Charged In Alleged Child Rapes

WILDOMAR, CA — A 55-year-old Wildomar pastor accused of sexually assaulting two girls multiple times was charged Monday with more than a dozen felony offenses.

Fredy Romeo Gonzalez Lopez was arrested last Wednesday following a Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigation.

Lopez is charged with eight counts of aggravated rape of a child, seven counts of lewd acts on a minor, five counts of sodomy of a child and multiple sentence-enhancing allegations of targeting two or more victims in a sex crime.

The defendant is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta and was slated to make his initial court appearance Monday afternoon at the nearby Southwest Justice Center.

According to sheriff's Sgt. Joshua Parker, Gonzalez presides at a Wildomar church, but the house of worship wasn't identified.

Parker said detectives initiated an investigation last week following reports of an alleged sexual assault on a child at a property in the 32000 block of Blue Terrace Street, near Palomar Street.

According to the criminal complaint, the two victims, identified in court documents only as "A.A." and "A.L.A.," were allegedly assaulted at various times from September 2020 to November of this year.

Court papers described instances where the defendant allegedly fondled their breasts, digitally penetrated them and raped them when the victims were between 10 and 12 years old.

Details regarding how Lopez was connected to the girls and the circumstances behind the alleged sexual abuse were not disclosed.

The defendant was interviewed at the sheriff's Lake Elsinore station Wednesday, after which he was taken into custody without incident.

He has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.