Church Volunteer Pleads Not Guilty in Sex Case

My Fox Phoenix
January 27, 2012

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/crime/church-volunteer-pleads-not-guilty-in-sex-case-1-26-2012

[with video]

A Phoenix man arrested in a sexual exploitation case involving juveniles has pleaded not guilty in the case.

Maricopa County prosecutors say 26-year-old Christian Salvador Turcios entered his plea Thursday. His next court date is an initial pretrial conference and no date has been set yet.

Turcios was jailed on suspicion of 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, child molesting and unlawful surreptitious video recording. He was ordered held without bond Jan. 10.

Police say investigators obtained a warrant and searched Turcois' home last month and found child pornography images and videos.

The victim count increased after this story came out. Phoenix police say there are now eight confirmed victims who claimed they were molested by Turcios, who most recently worked as a volunteer babysitter at Highlands Church in north Scottsdale.

They’re calling Turcios a serial child predator.

“He preyed on kids for many many years,” says Phoenix Police Sgt. Steve Martos.

Turcios was first arrested by Phoenix police a few weeks ago. One day later the church held a community meeting, as police searched for more victims.

Investigators say more victims from Highlands Church came forward -- six out of the eight claim they met Turcios at Highlands. One victim was a member at Phoenix First Assembly, where Turcios was a camp counselor a few years back.

In some cases, victims were unaware that Turcios had allegedly taken video and pictures of the abuse. Police say Turcios may have met his victims at a church, but the abuse happened inside of homes. They say some images allegedly show Turcios engaged in sexual acts with children.

Turcios mainly volunteered for different church youth programs. He was hired as staff at Highlands for one week before police arrested him during an internet porn sting.

“We believe that there are obviously still more victims out there,” says Martos.

The victims are mostly boys between 7-and-15 years old. They're asking parents who knew Turcios to talk to their kids.