D.a.: Pastor Assaulted Boys during Sleepovers

By Peter Larson And Vik Jolly
Orange County Register
July 6, 2012

http://www.ocregister.com/news/perez-362233-church-assault.html

A Laguna Hills pastor molested five boys – as young as 9 years old – from his church during sleepovers and visits he arranged, a prosecutor told a jury Thursday.

Defendant Oscar Perez, 69, asked one of the victims' parents to bring the boy to his Lake Forest apartment because he wasn't feeling well, Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker said in her opening statement.

Oscar Perez Perez

The boys' parents trusted him, she said. Their sons assisted Perez with services at Iglesia Antigua, a church that rented space at a Laguna Hills Episcopal Church, where he represented himself as a Catholic and Apostolic pastor and bishop, Walker said.

Perez is charged with 22 counts of lewd acts upon a child under 14, four counts of lewd acts on a child, and faces sentencing enhancement allegations for lewd acts against multiple victims.

The first victim's mother reported the sexual assault last July to the Orange County Sheriff's Department, the prosecutor said. Continued investigation revealed the other four. She said the victims believed the church would be ruined and they would go to hell if they told anyone.

"This case is about a violation of trust and innocence," Walker said.

But defense attorney Case Barnett insisted Perez was just talking to the boys about puberty and circumcision. He said there was never any inappropriate touching, and Perez's conduct, though not common, was not criminal.

The trial before Superior Court Judge Steven Bromberg is expected to last a week. If Perez is convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 330 years to life in prison.