By Riley Yates
Morning Call
September 16, 2011
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/police/mc-bethlehem-minister-sex-abuse-sentencing-091611,0,5724540.story
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| Santos Rosado shown arriving for a preliminary hearing before District Judge Nancy Matos Gonzalez in Bethlehem in September, 2010. (Morning Call file photo) |
They quoted the Bible and spoke of Santos A. Rosado's good deeds.
Though the disgraced former Bethlehem minister faced sentencing for molesting a troubled teen who had sought his help, his family and supporters insisted Friday that he is a good and caring man.
One, his daughter Adeliani, claimed he was innocent despite his guilty plea. Another, Osvaldo Cruz, the co-pastor of Last Day Ministry in Bethlehem, asked who was there to throw stones. Rosado's wife of 28 years, Marilyn, said she was standing by a husband who helped the poor and drug-addled.
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After hearing all of that testimony, the prosecutor who handled two sexual abuse cases perpetrated by Rosado said in court that she was "saddened."
"This group of people have decided to ignore the fact that this person is a child molester," Northampton County Assistant District Attorney Patricia Broscius said. Though he claimed to be a man of God, "I hope that he never, ever preaches again."
Calling the 45-year-old Rosado a "confidence man" who used his pulpit for lust and lechery, Judge Leonard Zito ordered him to serve 18 months to three years in state prison, followed by six years of probation, on charges of indecent assault and corrupting a minor.
Rosado still faces sentencing for a second, even more serious case, in which he pleaded guilty to systematically sexually abusing a girl for years starting when she was 12. Rosado could receive up to 35 years in prison when he is before another county judge on that in December.
There, Rosado repeatedly had sex with his victim, eventually resulting in her pregnancy. The victim, now in her 30s, has testified that the abuse began in 1993; Rosado would crawl into bed with her, pull up her nightgown and sexually assault her.
In the case Zito had, Rosado met his then 14-year-old victim in 2007 while he was pastor of a congregation that met at the Bethlehem Community Fellowship church building in the Marvine-Pembroke housing development. The girl, a runaway who was in and out of foster placement, was counseled by Rosado until the age of 16.
The inappropriate contact started with a kiss and continued to mutual fondling, Rosado has acknowledged.
"Are you asking the court for forgiveness?" defense attorney Ronald Creazzo asked his client Friday.
"Yes, your honor," Rosado said to Zito.
"Are you asking your Creator for forgiveness?" Creazzo added.
"I already have," Rosado said.
With all the talk of God, Zito said that's not, in the end, his purview.
"My view is that a judge has a much different job description than our Creator," Zito said, before sending Rosado to state prison.
Contact: riley.yates@mcall.com
610-253-5751
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