| For Immediate Release Case # 07NF0294 December 21, 2007 |
Contact: Susan Kang Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 |
MARRIED PASTOR CONVICTED OF HAVING UNLAWFUL SEX WITH 16-YEAR-OLD PARISHIONER
*Also convicted of twice violating protective order to meet with victim while out on bail
FULLERTON – A married pastor was convicted today of having sex in his church office with a 16-year-old female parishioner and violating a protective order for meeting the underage victim while out on bail. Ronald Hernandez Tovar, 57, Placentia, pleaded guilty to three counts of unlawful sexual intercourse, oral copulation of a minor, sexual exploitation of a child, and two counts of disobeying a court order. He was sentenced to two years in state prison.
Between August 1, 2006 and December 31, 2006, Tovar had unlawful sex with a 16-year-old parishioner on multiple occasions in different locations, including his church office in Anaheim Hills. Tovar is a pastor at The Shadow of the Almighty church in Stanton.
Between July 23, 2007 and July 30, 2007, Tovar, who was out on $100,000 bail, violated a Court protective order and met with the victim at a bus stop. A friend of the victim’s mother witnessed the defendant and the victim together, and it was later reported to the police. Tovar was charged with the first violation of a protective order and bail was increased to $150,000.
On November 6, 2007, following the completion of a preliminary hearing, Tovar drove to Montclair in San Bernardino County and met the victim, who is still a minor, in a church parking lot. He drove with the victim to her residence in Montclair, where he was apprehended by Anaheim police officers who had covertly followed him to the home. Tovar was then charged with the second violation of a protective order. During a subsequent search, officers found a video that had been taped by Tovar of the victim having sex with another man.
Deputy District Attorney Drew Haughton of the Sexual Assault Unit prosecuted this case.
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