Pastor Sentenced for Sex with Teen

By Maggie Avants
The Patch
March 16, 2012

http://murrieta.patch.com/articles/pastor-pleads-guilty-to-sex-with-minor


Just before he was due for a hearing to determine whether he should go to trial, the former lead pastor of an Oceanside church admitted having a sexual relationship with a young girl.

Matthias Anderson, 41, of Hemet, was immediately sentenced to nine years and four months in prison on four felony counts.

The relationship between Anderson and the girl began in February 2008, according to Deputy District Attorney Julie Baldwin.

Anderson, a decorated retired Marine sergeant, was the founder of New Wine Ministries in Oceanside.

The girl—identified as Jane Doe—attended the congregation with her parents. There was some inappropriate touching that took place when the girl was under 14, Baldwin told Riverside County Superior Court Judge Angel Bermudez.

Then in 2010, Baldwin said, the relationship grew into a sexual one.

Anderson was arrested in November 2011 near the girl's Murrieta residence, after the girl and her mother reported the relationship to Murrieta police.

Anderson initially pleaded not guilty to 25 counts of lewd acts on a child, seven counts of unlawful sexual intercourse and one count each of sexual penetration with a foreign object and oral copulation of a minor.

Many of the acts took place in Murrieta and surrounding areas, Baldwin said. Acts that took place in Oceanside were charged concurrently with the case with the permission of the San Diego District Attorney's Office, she said.

An eight-hour hearing had been scheduled for today, but instead Anderson decided to plead guilty.

The victim, who was joined in the courtroom by her family, gave a statement regarding the affects the relationship has had on her.

"I remember during church or church practice he would be standing behind the doorway," Jane Doe said. "He would call me to the back of the church to the Sunday School room and then after being with me he would go preach or sing to God.

"He told me he loved me—that this is true love...he said I was so special to him, that he was putting his whole life at risk for me. He would even tell me that if I would ever tell on him it would be over for him."

She told the judge she now struggles with trust issues.

"It was hard to believe this was child abuse but looking back I realize it definitely was and I realize this was what you were afraid of getting caught for."

The victim's father called Anderson's acts "despicable."

"You spend your life trying to protect your kids, you take them to church and you have them in school," he said. "And here you have an individual who is willing to use the church for their own horrible self gratification.

"And then to molest a child and prey upon a little girl—that should speak for itself."

Anderson apologized for his actions.

"I have done a lot for this country and I have done a lot for the city (of Oceanside)...I should know how to conduct myself and I have a track record of that. I have let some people down: the victim's family, my family. I just apologize and pray that forgiveness can occur..."

Anderson was given credit for 157 days time served and was ordered to register as a sex offender.

Baldwin said both the victim's and Anderson's families have been working toward a resolution in the case.

"There was acceptance and responsibility at a very early stage," Baldwin said.

She said the nine-year sentence will give the victim time to graduate high school and possibly go to college and get a good start on life.

Anderson's wife, Angelica, said said she will continue to pray for the victim's family and her family.

The victim's mother was relieved to get some closure.

"I am so glad my daughter had the strength to speak out...she has saved another child from this monster," she said.