ALBUQUERQUE (NM)
Santa Fe New Mexican [Santa Fe NM]
February 22, 2022
By Phaedra Haywood
A Las Vegas, Nev., pastor accused of child sexual assault made his first appearance before a New Mexico judge Monday after being arrested Saturday in Albuquerque and jailed as a fugitive from justice.
Reynaldo Crespin, 59, conferred briefly with a public defender before waiving his right to fight an extradition to Nevada to face criminal charges.
Bernalillo County Metropolitan Judge Linda Rogers issued an order directing Nevada law enforcement officials to retrieve Crespin within 15 days. He’ll remain in jail until then, the judge said.
Crespin is the pastor of New Horizon Christian Church and Fellowship in Las Vegas, according to the church’s website. He co-founded the church in 2002.
He also had been a second grade teacher at a public elementary school in Clark County, Nev., for about five years before he “separated” from the the school district earlier this month, according to the CBS affiliate in Las Vegas.
A phone number listed for the New Horizon Christian Church was not in service Monday.
The church posted a letter saying, “Crespin committed acts of domestic violence, stalking, or aggravated stalking against his wife and minors,” and that a family member had disclosed Crespin “had been inappropriately touching her over the past several years,” according to an NBC station in Las Vegas.
Court records show Crespin was wanted on a Clark County Justice Court warrant charging him with 10 crimes, including one count of lewdness with a child 14 or 15, two counts of sexual assault of a child under 16, two counts of sexual assault of a child under 14, four counts of lewdness with a child under 14 and one count of open or gross lewdness.
Albuquerque police arrested Crespin at a residence in the city’s South Valley early Saturday, based on a tip from a woman who called the department late Friday to say Crespin was staying with her relative there, according to a narrative provided by a police spokesman.
The woman said she looked up Crespin online and saw he had a warrant in Nevada, police said. An officer visited the home just before midnight Friday and arrested Crespin after confirming his identity and the warrant.
Phaedra Haywood
Courts Reporter