Church Usher Charged with Sexual Abuse of Boy Parishioners

By Melissa Pamer
NBC Los Angeles
August 1, 2013

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Church-Usher-Charged-With-Sexual-Abuse-of-Boy-Parishioners-217825121.html

An usher at a Jehovah's Witnesses congregation in Sun Valley was charged Wednesday with sexually abusing four boys he met at the church.

Marcelo Lozano, 34, is expected to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon at Van Nuys Superior Court with nine felony counts, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

Lozano, who was an usher for the church’s Spanish congregation, allegedly abused boys who ranged from 8 to 15 years old between 2006 and 2013.

He is charged with two counts each of aggravated sexual assault of a child, continuous sexual abuse and oral copulation of a person under 14. And he faces one count each of forcible lewd act upon a child, lewd act upon a child and sodomy of a person under 14 with 10 years difference.

Prosecutors will recommend that the defendant’s bail be set at $1.8 million, the DA’s office said.

Lozano faces a maximum term of life in state prison if convicted on all charges.

The Los Angeles Police Department is still investigating the case, the DA’s office said.