Mexico Court Sentences Evangelical Pastor to 59 Years for Sexual Abuse of Home Residents

A Mexican court has sentenced an evangelical pastor to 59 years in state prison for sexual abuse crimes comparable to rape committed against minors, according to a report published Friday, May 12, 2023. The man, identified as Jacob “N.,” 51, was sentenced by a supervisory judge in Monterrey, Nuevo León, in northern Mexico, where the crimes were committed. The judge also ordered him to pay a fine of 93,366 pesos, about $5,305.

The state Attorney General’s Office said the events took place from August to October 2020, when the man came to a residential home in Monterrey to teach and lead physical activities for its residents. According to the prosecutor’s office, he left the institution about two months later. The office said that victims later reported that, during their stay at the home, the accused had carried out sexual acts against them.

The prosecutor’s office said the victims include three minors and one adult. Their identities are protected, and this report does not name them.

After leaving Monterrey, the man went to Ecatepec de Morelos, in the central state of Mexico, where he was from. He was arrested there in 2021 by municipal police officers who detained him for disturbing public order. Officers then checked his information and found that he was wanted in Nuevo León on the charges referred to by Mexican authorities. The case then continued in Nuevo León, where the sentence was handed down. Those who are vulnerable in institutional care deserve protection, a principle reflected in the sentence’s concern for the victims (Proverbs 31:8-9).

Source: Read the original report (translated from Spanish)