Ex-megachurch Pastor Guilty of Sexually Assaulting Young Sisters

By Doyle Murphy
New York Daily News
June 24, 2015

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ex-megachurch-pastor-guilty-sexually-assaulting-girls-article-1.2270317

A perverted pastor is going to prison.

Former megachurch preacher Geronimo Aguilar was found guilty on Wednesday of sexually assaulting two young sisters two decades ago in Texas.

The Tarrant County jury convicted the 45-year-old church leader on all seven felony charges, including sexual assault of a child, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.

Aguilar shared a home with the sisters, who were ages 11 and 13 at the time, while he was a Fort Worth minister.

Geronimo Aguilar, the founder of a Virginia megachurch, was convicted on Wednesday in Texas of sexually assaulting two underage sisters.

The older sister testified the abuse lasted for two years in the 1990s and included rape.

Aguilar moved in 2001 to Richmond, Va., where he founded the Richmond Outreach Center with his wife. He helped build the congregation of just 19 people into the ministerial powerhouse ROC parish with thousands of members. He was fired in 2014 following his indictment.

The influential minister admitted during the trial he was a serial adulterer, cheating on his wife with her close friends, an assistant, church board member and even a sister-in-law.

But his lawyers insisted that had nothing to do with the sexual assault allegations.

“Presidents engage in extramarital affairs but that does not make them child molesters,” defense attorney Thomas Pavlinic said, according to the Star-Telegram. “You may not like his moral stance, and you may not like what he did, but that’s no indication of his guilt.”

Geronimo Aguilar (L) was found guilty on Wednesday of sexually assaulting two young sisters two decades ago in Texas.

Prosecutors painted Aguilar as a manipulative and vindictive liar who used his powerful position to intimidate his accusers.

“It’s the ROC playbook,” prosecutor Eric Nickols said, according to the Star-Telegram. “When he gets caught he acts repentant, and if you go public, the attack is coming. This is how it goes when you come against a machine like the ROC.”

Aguilar has yet to be sentenced. He could face life in prison.