By Chad Nation
The Nonpareil
January 26, 2011
http://www.southwestiowanews.com/articles/2011/01/26/council_bluffs/doc4d404dd31342d138422228.txt
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| An 18-year-old girl testified Tuesday in the trial of Efrain Umana. Umana, 55, is charged with second-degree sexual abuse, third-degree sexual abuse and two counts of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse. He is accused of forcibly having sex with the teen in 2003, when she was 11 years old. |
An 18-year-old girl said she never told anyone that her pastor sexually assaulted her because she was afraid no one would believe her.
The teen testified Tuesday in the trial of Efrain Umana. Umana, 55, is charged with second-degree sexual abuse, third-degree sexual abuse and two counts of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse. He is accused of forcibly having sex with the teen in 2003, when she was 11 years old.
Umana also is alleged to have forced intercourse with another woman who was a member of his Council Bluffs church, Templo Monte Horeb, as well as making unwanted sexual advances toward two other parishioners.
During opening statements, Assistant Pottawattamie County attorney Shelly Sedlak said the case is about "power and control."
"(Umana) used his position and authority as a pastor to abuse members of his church," Sedlak said. "They trusted Mr. Umana; he was their pastor, and he violated their trust."
The teen testified that she was not only a parishioner, but a friend of Umana's daughter, and the three of them drove from Omaha to the Council Bluffs church sometime in 2003 to help Umana look for missing keys. The girl said when they arrived at the church, Umana's daughter stayed in the vehicle and only the two of them went inside to search for the keys.
However, there were no missing keys, she said.
"I was in the sound room, and he came in. He didn't mention anything about the keys anymore. He closed the door and he locked it," the girl said as she fought back tears. "He told me I had to take off my clothes, and I said, 'no,' and he said, 'do it.' Then he pulled down his pants."
The girl said Umana lifted her skirt and removed her underwear and began to have sexual intercourse with her. She said he only stopped after she said his daughter would come in and see them. After the assault, she said they drove home and she didn't tell anyone.
"Because it was going to be my word against the pastor's," she said, and everyone liked and trusted him.
The teen only told her parents after another pastor found out about the alleged assault.
She said talking with a psychiatrist has helped her realize that forgiveness was part of moving on with her life. But the event changed her. She said she became shy and quiet and had trouble with contact with other men.
"I hated my parents because it made me angry that nobody would ever believe me. I never hugged my dad because I felt disgusted," she said.
Umana's attorney, Bill McGinn, told the jury in his opening statement that no physical evidence corroborates the stories of the teen, or the other three women.
"This is how accusations come about, once a little girl reports something, then it spreads and takes on a life of its own," McGinn said. "It's easy at that point to say, 'Oh yeah, he did that to me, too.'"
Sedlak said a second woman would testify that Umana forced himself on her at her home, demanding her to take her clothes off and telling her to "obey" him. The woman is scheduled to testify today.
Contact: cnation@nonpareilonline.com
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