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  Former Arcata Pastor Accused of Sex Abuse Sent Back to Jail; Prosecution Alleges He's Been in Contact with One of His Alleged Minor Victims

By John Driscoll
The Times-Standard
January 13, 2011

http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_17086581

A former Arcata pastor accused of molesting two girls in his care was shackled and sent back to jail Wednesday by a Humboldt County judge after a prosecutor claimed he'd violated court orders by repeatedly contacting one of his alleged victims.

Deputy District Attorney Kelly Neel told the court that Dino Cardelli had used a throw-away cell phone and a “false” Facebook page to contact the minor girl. Neel asked Judge Bruce Watson to put Cardelli back in jail and said that new criminal charges should be expected for his alleged actions.

Cardelli, 49, a former pastor for Calvary Chapel in Arcata, was arrested in September and charged with one count of recurring sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14, Jane Doe 1, one count of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor and two counts of oral copulation with a minor. In October, three more charges were filed, alleging committing a lewd and lascivious act with a child under 14 years old, Jane Doe 2. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

In court Wednesday, Neel said that Cardelli has not abided by the court's October order to have no contact with the victims in the case.

”What does he do, your honor?” Neel asked. “He continues to thwart the court's orders and contacts the victim, making it more difficult to come forward.”

Cardelli's attorney Mark Bruce claimed that neither he nor his client had been given all of the evidence being used to back up the prosecution's motion to send Cardelli back to jail. He asked Watson to schedule an evidentiary hearing on the matter.

Watson said that the process does not call for such a hearing, which the judge said could involve calling the victim and witness in the case to testify. He ordered Cardelli to be taken into custody.

”I'm going to object, for the record,” Bruce said.

Cardelli then whispered to Bruce, who told the court that his client insisted that the alleged victim was the one who'd contacted him.

Cardelli posted a reduced bail of $250,000 in early October but was arrested shortly afterward on suspicion of violating a court order that he not contact the alleged victims in the case or use any electronic communication devices. Watson chose not to send him back to jail at the time.

On Wednesday, Neel said that the first victim in the case told investigators that Cardelli had bought a throw-away cell phone to communicate with her and that she'd text messaged him just after he posted bond. She also told investigators that they communicated every night before she went to bed, Neel said, and said that Cardelli had created a new Facebook page to communicate with her. Neel said that Cardelli even sent the alleged victim a text message Wednesday morning voicing concern that he might be taken into custody again.

Watson set Cardelli's bail at $750,000. A preliminary hearing in the case is set to begin on Feb. 1.

John Driscoll can be reached at 441-0504 or jdriscoll@times-standard.com

 
 

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