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	Minister Arrests Shock Residents Fox 13 December 16, 2011 http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/local/polk/minister-arrests-shock-residents-12142011 MULBERRY - Two former youth ministers in Polk County made their first court appearances Thursday morning. Ricardo Navarro, 28; and Edward Demoreta, 30, are both accused of having sex with the same underage girl. Deputies say the abuse started when she was 13 years old, and she's now getting counseling. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd laid out the stories at a press conference Wednesday. His remarks and two arrest affidavits tell the story of two youth ministers who investigators say preyed on the same teenage girl over the course of two years -- all of which came to light in the past couple of weeks. ********* According to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, the incidents happened at different times over the course of two years, and neither man knew the other was also abusing the girl. Ricardo Navarro, 28, is accused of sexually abusing the girl in an incident in December of 2010. Navarro was the youth pastor at First Assembly of God Church in Mulberry, where the girl attended. The victim told investigators Navarro fondled her, according to an arrest report provided by the Polk County Sheriff's Office. Then, from November 27th through the 30th of this year, investigators say Navarro sent the victim text messages asking her to send him naked pictures of herself. Polk Sheriff Grady Judd said the girl called the sheriff's office to report Navarro. According to the arrest report, Navarro admitted to the texts. He was arrested Tuesday night, and charged with lewd and lascivious behavior with a victim 12 to 16 years old; and enticing a child to distribute computer porn. ****** According to the sheriff's office, Navarro was let go as youth pastor at the church about a year ago when new head pastor Lee Thomas came in and brought new staff members with him. One of those staffers was 30-year-old youth pastor Edward Demoreta. Demoreta was also a teacher at Mulberry Middle School. That's where investigators say he began having sexual encounters with the victim in 2009. An arrest affidavit says the girl performed a sex act on Demoreta on three separate occasions: during an after-school tutoring session in his classroom, while driving her from school to church and also in the church parking lot. According to Sheriff Judd, rumors began circulating around the church that Demoreta was engaging inappropriate conduct with a minor. Judd said Pastor Thomas confronted Demoreta, and he confessed. Thomas suspended him and contacted the sheriff's office within 24 hours, according to Sheriff Judd. "The current head pastor at First Assembly of God is a hero," Judd said. Demoreta was also arrested Tuesday night and charged with three counts of lewd battery, which are all second-degree felonies. "We're talking about people who all knew better, but they chose to ignore what was right, to do what was wrong," Judd said. ********** Demoreta and Navarro are both being held in Polk County jail with no bond. Demoreta and Navarro live close to each other in adjacent neighborhoods. Neighbors of both men were stunned at the news. "Oh my gosh, you've got to be kidding me," one man who did not want to be identified, shaking his head, out of breath, and then dropping to the ground. Alex Perez lives just two houses away from Demoreta, and said he installed Demoreta's heating and cooling system a year ago. Perez and his wife have a boy and three girls of their own. He was greatly concerned when he heard the news and said they guard their children all the time. "We don't let them ride bikes unless we're with them, or go anywhere in a neighbor's home, nothing like that," said Perez. "Even your 13 year old?," we asked. "No, yeah," he said. "Even her. She's with us all the time."
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