By Katie Fretland
World-Herald
June 18, 2009
http://www.omaha.com/article/20090618/NEWS01/706189831/0/FRONTPAGE
A minister who served Spanish-speaking congregations in Council Bluffs and Lincoln has been charged with sexually abusing a child parishioner and forcing an adult woman to have sex with him.
Efrain Umana, 53, was extradited from Lincoln to Iowa last week. Tuesday night, he was released from the Pottawattamie County Jail after posting $50,000 bail.
According to an affidavit filed in Pottawattamie County District Court, Umana took the girl in 2003 to the sound room of the Council Bluffs church where he was pastor. He said he was looking for keys.
Inside the room, according to the affidavit, he locked the door and had sex with the girl. She was 10 or 11 years old.
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| Efrain Umana, 53, a pastor who preached in Council Bluffs and Lincoln. |
Umana is accused in police reports of having sex with the girl once and inappropriately touching her on three occasions.
"We are very angry," the girl's father told The World-Herald. "We trusted this guy as part of our family."
The church, near 30th Street and 5th Avenue., is called Templo Monte Horeb. Umana left the church, which is not affiliated with a national church body, about nine months ago.
Two families and parishioners who knew Umana said he is an intelligent man who gained their confidence.
"He was my pastor," said a 25-year-old Nebraska woman, who said Umana began a physical relationship with her when she was 17. At the time, she was a member of a Lincoln church where he served as pastor, and he also served as her family's immigration sponsor.
"He took advantage of his position," said the woman.
Several phone calls to Umana seeking comment were unreturned.
The affidavit also states that Umana went to the Council Bluffs home of a female parishioner in 2007 while her husband was working. He told her she was going to have sex with him, but she refused, the affidavit states. He then forced her to have sex with him, according to the affidavit.
Umana also is charged with assaulting two other females with the intent to commit sex abuse. In September 2008, he called one to the Bluffs church. The woman, now 25, helped him take items from his car into the church. Inside, with the lights off, Umana grabbed her and kissed her, according to the affidavit. She pushed him away, ran to turn on the lights and kept her distance until she left, the affidavit states.
According to Bluffs police reports, such advances occurred multiple times in the church and once in the woman's home.
Another female, now 35, reported that she was working in the church's linen room in 2008 when Umana hugged her and kissed her on the neck without her permission, according to the affidavit.
Officer Katie Flood, a Lincoln police spokeswoman, said police in Lincoln are aware of the charges against Umana. She said there are no known victims in Lincoln.
The situation is different in Council Bluffs.
Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilber said, "This is a case where we had victims who came forward and led us to multiple victims. After investigating and talking to each individual, we decided there was enough to go forward with criminal charges."
If convicted, Umana could face up to 39 years in prison. He is charged with second-degree and third-degree felony sex abuse and two counts of assault with intent to commit sex abuse, which are aggravated misdemeanors.
Umana worked as a Lincoln Public Schools bus driver from 1992 to 1997. In 1993, three students reported they felt uncomfortable around Umana, according to memos obtained by The World-Herald.
The students reported he hugged them, said things like "Hi, Babe" and told them how pretty they were. He also kissed one and grabbed at their coats, according to the documents. One girl reported that she told him the bus was cold and he said, "Yes, but you and me are hot."
In 1994, three elementary school students reported Umana grabbed them in inappropriate places. Umana denied the allegations to school officials. In 1997, Umana was terminated.
Umana was dismissed in 2003 from an Assemblies of God Church in Lincoln called Efecios 2:20. He then operated a church at 1305 N. 52nd Ave. in Lincoln. Umana's church was an affiliate of the International General Assembly of the Church of God, of Cleveland, Tenn.
On Nov. 8, 2008, a Church of God trial board met to consider ecclesiastical charges of unbecoming ministerial conduct against Umana. He was found guilty.
The church ordered his ministerial credentials revoked for at least one year and told him to cease all ministerial activity for at least six months, according to a letter informing Umana of the results of the trial board.
David Gosnell, administrative bishop of the Church of God in the Midlands, declined to say what the ecclesiastical charges were, saying they were inappropriate to discuss with a reporter. Gosnell said the ecclesiastical charges involved no minors.
Umana is to appear in court in Council Bluffs on Tuesday.
World-Herald staff writer Jason Kuiper contributed to this report.
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Contact: 444-1022, katie.fretland@owh.com
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