Ex-valley Church Camp Counselor Gets 30 Years for Sex Abuse

By Catherine Calderon
Arizona Republic
July 11, 2014

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2014/07/11/valley-church-camp-molestation-sentence-abrk/12524395/

A former church volunteer was sentenced on Friday to 30 years in prison with lifetime probation in connection with the molestation of children in his care as a church baby-sitter and camp counselor.

Christian Salvador Turcios, 28, pleaded guilty in Maricopa County Superior Court to multiple counts of child molestation, aggravated assault and attempted sexual exploitation of a minor.

Turcios worked at Phoenix First Assembly of God and Highlands Church in Scottsdale. Police said the molestations took place over seven years.

Prosecutor Rachel Mitchell was joined in court on Friday by the families of Turcios' young victims who spoke of the emotional distress his actions caused them.

One victim's mother narrated her son's struggle at school and need to seek out therapy, which has proved ineffective. The family was unable to visit the church for a long time, she said.

"People want to go to a church on a Sunday and feel safe," Mitchell said. "It was not just Christian's action, but the settings of his actions, that should be taken into account."

Victims' families asked for the maximum sentence of 30 years, though Turcios' mother, grandmother, aunt and sister tearfully pleaded with Judge Peter Reinstein to consider leniency given his age and no prior felony history.

The investigation into Turcios began in 2010, when an 11-year-old at an Assembly of God summer camp accused Turcios of molesting him. Authorities said they lacked the evidence to charge him at the time, according to court records.

The U.S. Department of Justice's Internet Crimes Against Children unit became involved in 2011 and served a search warrant in early 2012, which revealed Turcios' collection of child pornography and inappropriate images of him with juveniles.

Turcios was later banned from the campuses of both churches where he worked.

Turcios did not have a criminal background when he first became a volunteer.