BishopAccountability.org
	Pastor Rejects Plea Bargain for Second Time By Tina A. Brown The Hartford Courant August 14, 2007 http://www.courant.com/news/custom/topnews/hcu-reyes-0814,0,5313215.story For the second time this year, the pastor of a storefront church in Hartford today rejected a plea bargain offer on a sexual assault charges, though two separate DNA tests show with 99 percent certainty that he is the father of a baby delivered by a 12-year-old girl in his congregation. Against the advice of his defense lawyer, Modesto Reyes declared repeatedly today in Superior Court in Hartford, that he is not the father of the baby, court observers said. He was so adamant about his defense that he claimed Tuesday that another man had fathered the baby. Reyes, 53, was pastor of Iglesia De Dios, Cristo Te Llama, on Broad Street when the alleged assaults occurred. In February, Reyes refused an offer to plead guilty in exchange for a prison sentence of 15 years. He asked Miano for another DNA test by an independent evaluator. DNA tests of Reyes, the baby and the girl were taken last month. After the DNA test results were announced Tuesday, Reyes rejected an offer to serve 15 years in prison for a second time. Judge Thomas Miano placed the court case on the trial list. "He wants to go to trial," Defense Lawyer William Gerace said after the hearing. "I've advised him against it. It could mean that he gets twice as much time. He wants to go down this disastrous path." The case first came to the attention of police in May 2006 when they got a call from the principal of a local elementary school about a student who complained that she had been sexually assaulted by her pastor, court records say. Two days later, the girl delivered the baby at Hartford Hospital, where she gave a statement to police detailing the instances in which she claimed Reyes had sexually assaulted her, court records say. The girl said the first assault happened in a van after a church function. Reyes is charged with assaulting the girl three more times in his church office. Reyes was arrested in June 2006 and charged with four counts of first-degree sexual assault. The prosecution alleges that between August and September 2005, Reyes assaulted the girl, whose family attended the church. The girl, now 13, had a baby boy in May 2006. DNA tests conducted by the state last year showed a more than 99 percent chance that Reyes is the father, Sandra Tullius, the prosecutor in the case said previously. Reyes has been held on $750,000 since his arrest. More articles
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.