Posted on 04/12/2008 12:18:33 PM PDT by Choose Ye This Day
A longtime preacher of a San Jose church was arrested on suspicion of molesting a 12-year-old churchgoer, San Jose police officer Enrique Garcia said Wednesday.
Gustavo Antonio Lanzas, 64, of Sunnyvale was taken into custody Friday on suspicion of committing lewd acts on a minor under 14 years old.
He has been the only pastor at Iglesia Cristiana Luz y Verdad for about 20 years, Garcia said.
Police began investigating Lanzas after the boy alleged that he had been molested. It's unclear if the boy said that Lanzas molested him at the church or another location, but officers searched the church on Aiello Drive in San Jose and the preacher's Sunnyvale home.
Several members of the congregation showed up at church Wednesday night for a regularly scheduled prayer service, but it was canceled. Many said they did not believe the accusations against the pastor.
"It's all lies and it's going to be proven; he is a sincere, honest man who helps everyone with their needs. This is a grave accusation," said Blanca Montes, who has attended the church for eight years.
[snip]
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
OH no. They can’t do that! He’s not Catholic. Only Catholics do that stuff. I’m surprised the papers even reported it. Ever notice that it’s only the Catholic churches that they report on?
These cases really suck! People with a long term relationship with the Pastor are going to be torn. The kid is in the middle of it all, and if he really was molested by the Pastor, it’s going to be tough on him. The parents are certainly going to be upset wanting justice for what they percieve to have been a terrible act. And then there’s the problem of evidence. There may not be any.
The truth of this may never be known. Hopefully a few others will come forward to explain what happened to them, if it every happened before. If not, this is going to be a terrible situation.
“OH no. They can’t do that! He’s not Catholic. Only Catholics do that stuff. I’m surprised the papers even reported it. Ever notice that it’s only the Catholic churches that they report on?”
Let’s wait and see if this guy is married.
afterall...everyone knows that it’s celibacy that causes this sort of thing. /s
Sad sad situation...
Exactly right. If there really was abuse here, it seems hard to conceive that in 20 years that there wouldn’t have been other incidents. Others may come forward.
If it is a false accusation, the pastor will always have a cloud of suspicion over his head.
Ever notice that it’s only the Catholic churches that they report on?
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That is not true, the catholic church is a huge church and the continual cover up over YEARS is what is so outrageous. Smaller church has more accountability (usually and are self governing).
Everyone needs to look into the Senate, Congress, White House, Universities, Corporations, Politicians etc instead of picking on others all the time. As I said in an earlir post you either have morals and values or you don’t. It’s the individual that’s the perp.
After 20 years? Not exactly an effective ministry.
Sure they do.
I wonder (with that Hispanic name) if he is a convert :)
Well, that's apparently not the case...
LOL!...there ya go!
The only thing, unfair about this, is they appear to be only picking on Catholic Priests.
I agree about the cloud, once the guy resigned and the resignation was acdepted. Who would believe nothing took place after that?
I don’t see the elders or the congregations trying to “hide” or not involve authorities in smaller self governing churches. I never stated that perverts aren’t in these churches, the point is there is more accountability within smaller churches that are self governing. They aren’t able to ship the problem pastors on to another location.
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