| For Immediate Release Case # 11HF2313 July 11, 2012 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
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PASTOR CONVICTED OF SEXUALLY ASSAULTING FIVE YOUNG MALE PARISHIONERS IN HIS HOME
SANTA ANA – A pastor was convicted today of sexually assaulting five young parishioner boys in his Lake Forest apartment. Oscar D. Perez Perez, 69, Lake Forest, was found guilty by a jury of 22 felony counts of lewd acts upon a child under 14, four felony counts of lewd acts on a child, and sentencing enhancement allegations for lewd acts against multiple victims. Perez faces a maximum sentence of 330 years to life in state prison and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration at his sentencing Sept. 14, 2012, at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-28, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
Perez represented himself as an Apostolic pastor and bishop at Iglesia Antigua, a church that rented space at St. George’s Episcopalian Church in Laguna Hills. Perez met his five victims through the church and gained their trust by befriending their families and having the boys assist with church services.
Between 2007 and 2011, Perez sexually assaulted the five victims between the ages of 9 and 15 years old on one or more occasions while they were visiting or sleeping over at the defendant’s apartment.
The sexual assault against the victims varied, and included sodomy, oral copulation, sexual penetration, touching of the victim’s penis and/or buttocks, kissing, and hugging.
Sometime after the sexual assault of John Doe #1 in 2011, the victim told his mother about the abuse and she reported it to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD), who investigated this case. The subsequent investigation led to the discovery of John Doe #2.
The defendant was arrested and charged for the first two victims in September 2011. Based on continued investigation and media coverage, OCSD discovered John Does #3, #4, and #5, and Perez was charged by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office for the additional sex crimes in January 2012.
Perez’s lifetime sex offender registration will bar him from entering County recreational areas and City parks which have passed the Sex Offender Ordinance. Visit www.orangecountyda.com to read the prior press releases on the County’s Sex Offender Ordinance as well as the 13 other cities that have enacted the Child Safety Zone Ordinance including Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Laguna Hills, Lake Forest, La Habra, Los Alamitos, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, Westminster, and Yorba Linda.
Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker of the Sexual Assault Unit is prosecuting this case.