TEXAS
NewsWest 9
By: Julia Deng
NewsWest 9
ODESSA – Don and Gina Haislett, the pastor and co-pastor of Life Church in Odessa, were arrested Tuesday and charged with failure to report child abuse, a Class A Misdemeanor.
Court documents obtained by NewsWest 9 reveal the married couple knew one of their volunteer youth ministers, Angel De Los Santos, was sexually assaulting multiple underage girls from the church and did not notify authorities within the mandated 48-hour period.
According to arrest affidavits, Gina Haislett sent a text message to the minister’s then-wife, telling her she “should not volunteer any information” when questioned by Odessa Police Department detectives.
Don and Gina Haislett could not be reached for an interview. Life Church had no comment.
According to Odessa Police, the Haisletts conducted their own investigation into a sexual relationship he had with one victim and inappropriate text messages he allegedly sent others.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.