Two correctional officers arrested on allegations of child molestation | KMPH

Two Tulare County men who worked as correctional officers have been arrested on multiple counts of child molestation, according to police.

Police say they have spent the last month looking into claims that were made several victims of the two.

The investigation began when an adult, who was 8 or 9 at the time, walked into the lobby of the Tulare Police Department and reported that they had been molested several times by a youth pastor at the Valley Bible Church in Visalia.

Officers say that the crimes happened in the mid to late 1990's.


Two correctional officers arrested on allegations of child molestation | KMPH

California psychic promised to 'bless' money, ran off with $100K

A California woman posed as a psychic and duped clients out of $100,000 by promising she could double their money with a blessing, police said.

The alleged scam landed Perlita Afancio-Balles, 29, on the Sacramento Police Department’s “most-wanted list” Tuesday.

Victims said Afancio-Balles — who went by the name Eva Maria — told them to leave their money with her, with the promise she’d return the “blessed” cash and that it would increase twofold, the Sacramento Bee reported.

California psychic promised to 'bless' money, ran off with $100K

UPDATED::2 charged in psychic scam; police say lawyer was swindled out of $1.5M

 UPDATED::Suspect in Las Vegas ‘psychic reading’ case died under house arrest

A 46-year-old man who died last week while under house arrest was one of five suspects awaiting trial in what authorities have called a long-running “psychic reading” scam that bilked a Las Vegas lawyer out of more than $1 million.

David Marks of Las Vegas died on Nov. 25 at Spring Valley Hospital Medical Center after suffering a medical episode at his home, according to Las Vegas police and the Clark County coroner’s office. His cause and manner of death had not been determined as of Monday.

He and his co-defendants — Sherry Marks, Peaches Marks, Nancy Marks and Rita Stevens — were indicted in June on 14 counts of theft and one count of multiple fraudulent transactions, according to court records.

UPDATE::  3 more charged in Las Vegas ‘psychic readings’ $1M scam

Las Vegas prosecutors on Thursday named three more people in a sweeping indictment in a long-running “psychic reading” scam that bilked a California lawyer out of more than $1 million.

Chief District Judge Linda Bell issued arrest warrants for Peaches Marks, Nancy Marks and Rita Stevens, whom prosecutors said had a roll in the scam that netted cash, jewels, airfare and a pair of $130,000 BMWs.

Stevens had previously been named in the case as an uncharged co-conspirator.

Two others, David Marks and Sherry Marks, were previously arrested in the case. Sherry Marks remains behind bars, while David Marks is free on his own recognizance.

A California lawyer who responded to a flyer for psychic readings was swindled out of $1.5 million by scammers who said she had to pay them to clear her chakras and eliminate her bad karma, police say.

Two people have been charged in Las Vegas in the monthslong scam, and a criminal complaint is pending against a third, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. Sherry Marks, 52, and David Marks, 48, are charged with conspiracy, extortion and four counts of obtaining money under false pretenses.

Prosecutors were given until early June to file a criminal complaint against the third person, Peaches Marks. But Sherry and David Marks are due back in Las Vegas Justice Court later this month, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

2 charged in psychic scam; police say lawyer was swindled out of $1.5M: Description

Pastor at Jurupa Valley Church Arrested on Suspicion of Sexually Assaulting Minor - NBC Southern California

A pastor at a Jurupa Valley church was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting an underage parishioner, sheriff's officials said Sunday.

Sean Ortiz of Jurupa Valley, 51, the lead pastor at New Beginnings Community Church at its Jurupa Valley campus, is accused of sexually assaulting the girl on at least two separate occasions, according to Riverside County Sheriff's Sgt. Julio De Leon.

De Leon said in a news release that a girl told deputies Friday there was a sexual assault at her church. Ortiz was arrested at his home that night and booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center on suspicion of two counts of felony sexual battery. He was released after posting $50,000 bail, according to jail records.

Pastor at Jurupa Valley Church Arrested on Suspicion of Sexually Assaulting Minor - NBC Southern California

Sacramento Police Looking for a 'Psychic' Who Allegedly Scammed People Out of $100,000

Police in Sacramento, California, are looking for a woman who allegedly scammed people out of $100,000 after claiming to be "psychic."

The woman, who went by the name "Eva Maria," had convinced several people who lived near her in South Natomas that she was a "psychic."

She gained their trust and promised to "bless" them and double any money she gave them, Sacramento Police said.

Sacramento Police Looking for a 'Psychic' Who Allegedly Scammed People Out of $100,000

Church leader allegedly embezzled money for Disney Club 33 membership

A former Los Angeles church leader was recently accused of stealing over $11 million from a church in order to purchase a home as well as a membership for Disneyland’s exclusive (and expensive) Club 33.

KTLA reports that Charles Thomas Sebesta, a 54-year-old former leader of Fifth Church of Christ, Scientist in Los Angeles, was arrested on Monday, August 26 on a federal indictment alleging he made false payments from the church’s bank accounts and siphoned off proceeds from the 2008 sale of the church’s Hollywood Boulevard flagship location. Currently, Sebesta faces six counts of wire fraud, five counts of bank fraud, and two counts of aggravated identity theft.

In a nutshell, Sebesta reportedly forged checks and used his position as board chairman at Fifth Church of Christ, Scientist to steal over $11 million over the course of a decade. And it seems as though he was quite the Disney fan — or at least, he was a fan of getting into an exclusive Disney eatery, since he used some of the stolen dollars to purchase a membership to Club 33, the historic, expensive, and exclusive club at Disneyland park that has been around for almost as long as Disneyland has.

Church leader allegedly embezzled money for Disney Club 33 membership

Church leaders charged in forced labor of homeless people | fox5sandiego.com

A dozen leaders of Imperial Valley Ministries, including the former pastor, are charged in an indictment unsealed today with subjecting dozens of mostly homeless people to forced labor, coercing them to surrender welfare benefits and compelling them to panhandle up to nine hours a day, six days a week, for the financial benefit of the church leaders, the U.S. attorney said.

The defendants were arrested Tuesday in El Centro, San Diego and Brownsville, Texas and charged with conspiracy, forced labor, document servitude and benefits fraud.

“The indictment alleges an appalling abuse of power by church officials who preyed on vulnerable homeless people with promises of a warm bed and meals,” said U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer. “These victims were held captive, stripped of their humble financial means, their identification, their freedom and their dignity.”

Church leaders charged in forced labor of homeless people | fox5sandiego.com

Former LA church chairman charged with $11.4M theft - SFChronicle.com

The former board chairman of the Fifth Church of Christ, Scientist in Los Angeles has been charged with stealing $11.4 million and using it for personal expenses, including buying a home and a membership to an exclusive dining club at Disneyland.

Fifty-four-year-old Charles Sebesta of Huntington Beach was arrested Monday on a federal grand jury indictment alleging wire fraud, bank fraud and identity theft.

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Prosecutors say for at least a decade beginning in 2006, Sebesta had money sent to bank accounts in his name, the names of his family members and several phony companies.

Former LA church chairman charged with $11.4M theft - SFChronicle.com

UPDATED::Catholic Priest in East Bay Arrested for Alleged Child Sexual Abuse

UPDATE::  East Bay priest charged with sexually abusing child facing nearly five years in prison 

An East Bay priest who repeatedly sexually assaulted a child is facing nearly five years in state prison, officials said.

Hector David Mendoza-Vela on Friday pleaded no contest to five counts of lewd or lascivious acts on a child age 14 or 15, court documents show.

Last month, he pleaded not guilty to 30 criminal counts filed against him in April by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office.

Mendoza-Vela is facing four years and eight months in prison under a plea agreement with the district attorney’s office, according to Teresa Drenick, a spokeswoman for the office.

A Catholic priest has been arrested on suspicion of 30 counts of suspected child sexual abuse in Alameda County, authorities said Sunday.

The Rev. Hector David Mendoza-Vela, parochial administrator of Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Fremont, is in custody at Santa Rita Jail, according to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office. The alleged abuse involved one victim age 14 or 15 over an 18-month period starting in 2016 when Mendoza-Vela was assigned to St. John the Baptist Church in San Lorenzo.

The abuse occurred in the victim’s home in unincorporated Hayward, sheriff’s Sgt. Ray Kelly said.

Catholic Priest in East Bay Arrested for Alleged Child Sexual Abuse

Former Wildomar Youth Pastor Charged with Molesting Child – NBC Palm Springs – News, Weather, Traffic, Breaking News

A former Wildomar youth pastor accused of molesting a girl nearly 30 years ago was out of custody Wednesday after posting a $120,000 bond.

Laverne Paul Fox, 60, was arrested in Erie, Pennsylvania, last month and was extradited to Riverside County over the weekend. He had been slated to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon on charges of lewd acts on a child, oral copulation of a minor and forced sexual penetration of a child under 16 years old, but bailed out of the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside on Tuesday night.

It was unclear whether Fox would be returning to Pennsylvania or remaining in California until his new arraignment date of Oct. 2 at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta.

According to sheriff’s Sgt. Glenn Warrington, detectives became aware of Fox’s alleged offenses while conducting a separate investigation into the sexual abuse of three teenage girls by another youth pastor, 46-year-old Malo Victor Monteiro of Colton.

Former Wildomar Youth Pastor Charged with Molesting Child – NBC Palm Springs – News, Weather, Traffic, Breaking News

Priest’s Car Crash Reveals Cash Stolen From Santa Rosa Parish – CBS San Francisco

Little did the emergency workers treating Father Oscar Diaz after car crash in Santa Rosa last week know the hidden secret they would find in the back of the vehicle.

Nestled in the back, according to a release from the Santa Rosa diocese, were bags containing stolen parish collections totaling $18,305.86.

“This money was associated with Resurrection Parish in Santa Rosa where Father Oscar was pastor,” said Bishop Robert F. Vasa in a diocese news release. “After an initial investigation and several interviews, the police determined that the protocols surrounding collection accounting would make it difficult to arrive at sufficient proof of theft to pursue criminal prosecution.”

But after the initial discovery, further investigation and search revealed that he had an additional $77,000 in cash which had apparently been taken from the parishes where he served.

Priest’s Car Crash Reveals Cash Stolen From Santa Rosa Parish – CBS San Francisco

UPDATED::Pastor Suspected of Sexually Assaulting Underage Girl: Police | PEOPLE.com

UPDATE::  Pastor Sentenced to Six Years in Prison for Sexual Assault of Child

A Glendale pastor who sexually assaulted an 11-year-old girl in a Covina hotel room was sentenced Monday to six years in prison.

Douglas Rivera, 41, was also ordered to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, according to Deputy District Attorney Michelle Graves. He was sentenced immediately after entering a no contest plea to a felony count of committing a lewd act on a child, she said.

UPDATE::  Glendale Pastor Accused of Sexually Assaulting Preteen Pleads Not Guilty

A pastor from a Glendale church pleaded not guilty Wednesday to committing a lewd act on an 11-year-old girl, who was visiting from China, in a Covina hotel room.

Douglas Rivera, 40, of Baldwin Park, is charged with one felony count each of a lewd act on a child and first-degree burglary with a person present, along with a misdemeanor count of indecent exposure.

He could face up to 15 years to life in state prison and lifetime sex offender registration if convicted as charged, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Police are searching for Douglas Rivera of Baldwin Park, California, who allegedly forced his way into a young girl’s hotel room and sexually assaulted her.

Rivera, a 40-year-old pastor, was seen on security cameras driving through the Vanllee Hotel and Suites parking lot – located in Covina which is east of Downtown Los Angeles – before stopping outside a lit room with drapes open, according to the Covina Police Department.

Two underage girls, who are between the ages of 10 and 12, were inside of the hotel room when Rivera pulled up in his Dodge Ram truck and masturbated while watching them through the window, police said.

Pastor Suspected of Sexually Assaulting Underage Girl: Police | PEOPLE.com

More information here:: Pastor Sought in Sexual Assault of Girl at Covina Hotel Says He Was in ‘Wrong Place at the Wrong Time’

Rivera, 40, worked as a pastor at God's Gypsy Christian Church in Glendale, a video posted on the parish's website shows. He's also listed as a pastor on the site's contact page.

In an Instagram clip posted online Friday, Rivera addressed the camera and denied allegations, saying he was simply at the "wrong place at the wrong time."

"I did not do nothing wrong. Something happened in that hotel, and that's the simple answer," Rivera said in the video. He added that he planned to go to the authorities on Wednesday with a lawyer.

"I love you Los Angeles," Rivera said. "Please keep me in prayer."

Covina police said as of Friday, Rivera has not contacted detectives.

Mega-church leader Joaquin Garcia arrested for major sex trafficking crimes - Story | KRIV

He is the leader of La Luz Del Mundo church but now, Joaquin Garcia is behind bars accused of human trafficking and much more.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced on Tuesday that mega-church leader Joaquin Garcia and others associated with him face charges of human trafficking, production of child pornography, forcible rape of a minor, among other felonies.

Becerra says Garcia committed the crimes between 2015 and 2018 while leading La Luz Del Mundo, an international religious organization headquartered in Mexico with over one million followers reported worldwide.

Mega-church leader Joaquin Garcia arrested for major sex trafficking crimes - Story | KRIV

CA regulators look to shut down Mormon extremist-owned casino | The Sacramento Bee

California regulators are working to shut down a casino with ties to a Utah Mormon fundamentalist group known to practice polygamy, including marriages of girls as young as 15.

At first glance, Sahara Dunes Casino, doing business as Lake Elsinore Hotel and Casino, doesn’t look like much.

It sits on I-15 between Los Angeles and San Diego, hundreds of miles from the glittering lights of Las Vegas. Only a plain red sign — reading “Casino Restaurant Cocktails” — identifies the building’s nature.

However, the casino is owned by Joseph and Ted Kingston, whose family also controls the Kingston Group, otherwise known as the Davis County Cooperative Society.

As reported in the Salt Lake Tribune, the Kingston Group also owns “a diverse portfolio of service, financial and agricultural operations in Utah and Idaho.”

Members of the group are known to conduct marriages of girls as young as 15, as well as marriages between cousins, according to the Tribune; the Tribune also reports that the group has drawn the attention of federal regulators, who allege that members have engaged in a multi-million-dollar tax fraud scheme.

CA regulators look to shut down Mormon extremist-owned casino | The Sacramento Bee

UPDATED::Methodist Pastor John McFarland Held in Escondido, Accused of Molesting Girl Under 14 - Times of San Diego

UPDATE::  O.C. Pastor Arrested Again, Charged in Molestation of 7 Children as Young as 5 Years Old: DA

After being arrested for a second time, a Fullerton man who was a longtime pastor at several churches in Southern California has been charged with 11 felonies in connection with the sex abuse of seven children, authorities announced Monday.

The charges against John Rodgers McFarland include seven counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor under 14 years old, and four counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor between 14 and 15, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
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The defendant was previously arrested on suspicion of child molestation in Escondido last December after a girl came forward to report the alleged abuse, according to the Fountain Valley Police Department.

During the investigation into that case, police said they uncovered “evidence that McFarland abused other victims.”

John Rodgers McFarland, 56, was arrested Dec. 18 on charges stemming from the alleged abuse of at least one child, police said.

Police executed search warrants at McFarland’s home, as well as current and previous churches where he was employed as head pastor, according to Fountain Valley police, who said evidence exists he may have additional victims in Orange County.

McFarland has been the head pastor at Orangethorpe United Methodist Church in Fullerton since 2014. He was also a pastor at Surf City Church in Huntington Beach between 2009 and 2014, and served as head pastor at Fountain Valley United Methodist Church for 26 years from 1988 to 2014.

Methodist Pastor John McFarland Held in Escondido, Accused of Molesting Girl Under 14 - Times of San Diego

John Earnest, alleged synagogue shooter, was a churchgoer who talked Christian theology, raising tough questions for evangelical pastors - The Washington Post

Before he allegedly walked into a synagogue in Poway, Calif., and opened fire, John Earnest appears to have written a seven-page letter spelling out his core beliefs: that Jewish people, guilty in his view of faults ranging from killing Jesus to controlling the media, deserved to die. That his intention to kill Jews would glorify God.

Days later, the Rev. Mika Edmondson read those words and was stunned. “It certainly calls for a good amount of soul-searching,” said Edmondson, a pastor in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, a small evangelical denomination founded to counter liberalism in mainline Presbyterianism. Earnest, 19, was a member of an OPC congregation. His father was an elder. He attended regularly. And in the manifesto, the writer spewed not only invective against Jews and racial minorities but also cogent Christian theology.

So the pastor read those seven pages, trying to understand. “We can’t pretend as though we didn’t have some responsibility for him — he was radicalized into white nationalism from within the very midst of our church,” Edmondson said.
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But the branch of Christianity that Earnest comes from does not share that belief, Messiah College historian John Fea pointed out. In Reformed denominations, including Earnest’s Presbyterian tradition, “replacement theology” teaches that the Christian church has replaced the Jewish people in God’s biblical promises to Israel.

“This guy is operating in this very strict Reformed theology,” Fea, who studies evangelicalism, said of Earnest. “In replacement theology, all the promises to Israel in the Old Testament now apply to the church, so there’s no particular end-times reason to not be anti-Semitic. The Jews are no longer God’s chosen people. . . . If you believe in this replacement theology, that’s not an incentive to go kill Jews, but it does mean Jews are not as important anymore in God’s plan.”

John Earnest, alleged synagogue shooter, was a churchgoer who talked Christian theology, raising tough questions for evangelical pastors - The Washington Post

Man accused of ramming car into pedestrians over their race, religion: police | TheHill

Isaiah Peoples, used his car as a weapon to intentionally run over a group of people he thought were Muslims, and he praised Jesus after the attack. He is a Christian terrorist. Full stop.

Local authorities said Friday that a California man accused of ramming his car into a group of people earlier this week sought to hit them because he believed they were Muslims.

Sunnyvale police said they found new evidence that Isaiah Peoples, an Iraq War veteran, intentionally hit a group of people, some of whom are South Asian, CBS San Francisco reported.

The Tuesday attack injured eight people, including a 13-year-old girl who is in critical condition and remains in a coma, CBS News reported. Her father and brother were also hit.

Peoples has been charged with eight counts of attempted murder, four of which have a sentencing enhancement for causing great bodily injury. Each charge carries a possible life sentence, according to NBC Bay Area.

Man accused of ramming car into pedestrians over their race, religion: police | TheHill

Fresno CA Catholic priest investigated for sexual misconduct | Merced Sun-Star

A 59-year-old priest with the Diocese of Fresno is on leave after being accused of sexual misconduct in Firebaugh.

Rev. Monsignor Craig Francis Harrison is being investigated after the allegation was made this month by an adult male, who was a minor when the alleged offense happened, according to a statement from the diocese.

Harrison currently serves at St. Francis Parish in Bakersfield. “I can confirm that there was a report taken, Monday April 15,” said Raquel Tabares, Firebaugh police records supervisor and lead dispatcher. “Right now, (the investigation) is still in the fact-finding stage.”

In a news release issued midday Thursday, Firebaugh police say the alleged victim was allegedly inappropriately touched when he was 14 to 16 years old.

Fresno CA Catholic priest investigated for sexual misconduct | Merced Sun-Star

UPDATED::California youth pastor suspected of assaults over decades - SFGate

From November 2018,,,

UPDATE::  Former Wildomar youth pastor pleads guilty to sexually assaulting girls 

A former youth pastor in Wildomar has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to accusations that he sexually assaulted teenage girls.

Malo “Victor” Monteiro, 45, pleaded guilty at Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta on Tuesday, Nov. 13, to four counts of lewd acts on a child of 14-15 years of age with the defendant at least 10 years older, two counts of sexual penetration with a foreign object and one count of attempted copulation of a minor, all felonies.

Authorities say a Southern California youth pastor has been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting children over nearly two decades.

The Press-Enterprise reports Malo Victor Monteiro was arrested Friday in Riverside County, east of Los Angeles. The 45-year-old could face charges including intent to commit rape, mayhem or sodomy, lewd and lascivious acts on a child and sexual penetration by force. It wasn't immediately known if he has an attorney.

The sheriff's department says deputies were alerted in June to alleged lewd acts by Monteiro.

California youth pastor suspected of assaults over decades - SFGate

Priest of Fremont's Corpus Christi Catholic Church Father David Mendoza Vela arrested for child sex abuse | abc7news.com

It wasn't the news parishioners at St. John's Catholic Church in San Lorenzo wanted to hear. Their former priest, Father David Mendoza-Vela was arrested on 30 counts of Lewd acts with a child on Thursday.

Some couldn't believe it.


"He's a priest, he's a good priest," one unidentified parishioner said.

Alameda County Sheriff's Department officials say the alleged abuse began in 2016 over an 18 month period at St. John's Church and involved one child.
Priest of Fremont's Corpus Christi Catholic Church Father David Mendoza Vela arrested for child sex abuse | abc7news.com