BishopAccountability.org
	Former Oregon Pastor Sued in Sex Abuse Case Associated Press, carried in KGW March 6, 2008 http://www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8V7QTHG0.html A multimillion dollar lawsuit has been filed on behalf of three sisters against a pastor accused of sexually assaulting them between 1996 and 2001. The lawsuit filed last week in Multnomah County Circuit Court claims Alfredo Hinojosa Soto, a minister at the former Iglesia Nueva Jerusalen in Cornelius, caused the girls to suffer physical, emotional and psychological injury. Soto, 83, was arrested in 2002 and charged in Yamhill County with sodomy and sexual abuse. He pleaded guilty to attempted sex abuse and attempted sodomy, and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and 10 years' probation. At the time of the incidents, Soto lived in Gaston, as did the girls, who were all younger than 10 and members of Soto's church. The suit seeks almost $2.7 million to be split among the sisters for the costs of long-term care. It also asks for $3 million each in damages related to the girls' emotional and physical pain. It asks for similar damages against the church and its Oklahoma-based governing body, the International Pentecostal Holiness Church, alleging negligence in hiring Soto and failing to warn the congregation. According to the lawsuit, the church knew Soto was a predatory sex abuser and was aware that he had made sexually suggestive remarks to other girls in the congregation. Soto has moved from Oregon and could not be reached for comment Wednesday. His last known address was in Texas. Iglesia Nueva Jerusalen appears to have folded; three manila envelopes from attorney Wendy Squires, who is representing the girls, sat in front of a locked door Wednesday, The Oregonian newspaper reported. The building now bears the name Templo Cristiano Pentecostes Bethel. The Pentecostal Holiness Church still owns the building, according to Washington County property records.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.