Los Angeles pastor accused of sex crimes against girl over six-year span
08/06/2020 6:48 am PDT
via KTLA:
LOS ANGELES (KTLA) -- A Hacienda Heights pastor has been charged with sex abuse against multiple victims after a woman reported he repeatedly sexually assaulted her in her home while she was a child, officials said Wednesday.
The L.A. County Sheriff's Department said that on January 9, 2020, a woman reported that when she was between 12 and 18 years old, her former youth pastor, Jonathan Tsai, sexually assaulted her during visits to her home. The family had reportedly become close to the suspect and his family. The alleged sexual abuse continued for approximately six years, the department said.
County Special Victims Bureau detectives have identified two other women who reported similar sexual assaults by the suspect when they were minors, the sheriff's office said.
Tsai, currently the head pastor at the Abundant Life Ministries church, was arrested at his residence on July 21 and booked on $1,400,000 bail. He was released on bond on July 24, 2020.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office filed four counts of lewd acts on a child under 14 years old; one count of oral copulation of a person under 16; and one count of sexual penetration of a person under 16. Detectives believe there may be additional victims.
West Covina Police Department is also investigating the suspect for sexual assault cases that occurred in the city of West Covina, the L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. said.
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