San Bernardino Pastor Accused of Sexually Abusing 2 Boys

CBS Los Angeles
March 14, 2014

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/03/14/san-bernardino-pastor-accused-of-sexually-abusing-2-boys/

(credit: San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department)

A 54-year-old pastor in San Bernardino has been accused of sexually abusing two male victims.

Stephen Howard, the pastor of Muscoy United Methodist Church, was arrested and charged with lewd acts with a child under 14, oral copulation with a person under 18 and sodomy with a person under 18. He’s being held on $250,000 bail.

On March 8, deputies responded to a report of child molestation occurring in the cities of San Bernardino, Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana.

An investigation, led by the sheriff’s Crimes Against Children Detail, revealed that the alleged victims, ages 14 and 23, previously attended Muscoy Methodist Church.

The 23-year-old victim’s abuse started when he was 9 and continued into adulthood, according to authorities.

Both victims, who are from Rancho Cucamonga, said Howard sexually abused them in exchange for money.

Howard, a Fontana resident, has been the lead pastor at the Muscoy United Methodist Church since 2001. He was also the youth director at a United Methodist Church in Ontario from 1989 to 2001.

Anyone with information on the case was encouraged to contact Det. Jennifer Wood of the Crimes Against Children Detail at (909) 387-3615.