Bethlehem Pastor Santos Rosado Sentenced up to 19 Years in Prison for Child Molestation, by Tom Shortell, The Express-Times, February 6, 2012

Bethlehem Pastor Santos Rosado Sentenced up to 19 Years in Prison for Child Molestation

By Tom Shortell
The Express-Times
February 6, 2012

www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/index.ssf/2012/02/bethlehem_pastor_santos_rosado_2.html

Santos Rosado, 45, of the 500 block of Wyandotte Street, was sentenced to five to 19 years in state prison today for sexually assaulting a girl for 13 years.

A Northampton County judge sentenced Santos Rosado to five to 19 years in state prison today for sexually assaulting a girl for 13 years, saying the former Bethlehem pastor's actions showed he was no man of God.

Rosado, 46, formerly of the 500 block of Wyandotte Street, pleaded guilty in September to sexually assaulting a girl from the time she was 12 until she was in her 20s.

He pleaded guilty to charges of indecent assault, endangering the welfare of a child, corruption of minors and two counts of felony statutory sexual assault. He also agreed to give up the parental rights to a child he fathered with the girl when she was 18.

Assistant District Attorney Patricia Broscius said Rosado was a danger to society and his congregation at Centro de Adoracion in Bethlehem because he used his position to take advantage of vulnerable young girls.

Broscius read a lengthy, handwritten note from the victim, who described the first time Rosado molested her and the abuse she suffered when she learned she was pregnant.

"If I had to write down every single (assault), I would be writing you a book, not an impact statement,"

Last year, Rosado pleaded guilty to molesting another girl for two years. Authorities said that victim was a member of his congregation. The victim from today's case only stepped forward once Rosado was arrested in the first case. In the prior case, Rosado is serving a maximum of three years in state prison.

In her letter, Rosado's second victim thanked the first for having the courage to alert authorities to Rosado's crimes.

"Thank God someone much braver than me opened her mouth and put the ball in motion,"

Family and friends of Rosado asked Judge Craig Dally to show leniency and leave it to God to judge the former pastor. Dally would hear none of it, though, and he sentenced Rosado to five years and four months to 19 years in state prison -- the longest prison terms allowed under the law.

Today's sentence must be consecutive to his previous three-year sentence, and Rosado will have a 10-year probationary term once released.

"Because of your heinous acts, you have robbed this young lady of her innocence and probably scarred her for life,"

Earlier today, Dally ruled Rosado a sexually violent predator, which will require him to register his whereabouts with police for the rest of his life.

Veronique Valliere, a psychologist and member of the state sexual offender assessment board, testified Rosado met the legal requirements to be a sexually violent predator.

While being attracted to teenagers isn't enough to qualify as a predator, Rosado's behavior and assaults in the two cases made the diagnosis clear.

"This wasn't a one-time thing for Mr. Rosado,"