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	New DNA Test for Pastor, Teen Mother, Baby Judge Allows an Independent Assessment in Second Bid to Determine Boy's Likely Father By Tina A. Brown Hartford Courant [Hartford CT] July 12, 2007 http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-ctreyes0712.artjul12,0,4454280.story DNA tests show with 99 percent certainty, prosecutors say, that the pastor of a storefront church in Hartford is the father of a baby delivered last year by a 12-year-old girl in his congregation. But Modesto Reyes says he's that 1 percent exception. Even as his lawyer discussed a plea bargain on sexual assault charges, Reyes insisted on another test. On Wednesday, a judge in Superior Court in Hartford agreed he could have it. DNA samples were taken Wednesday from Reyes, the girl and her baby after Superior Court Judge Thomas Miano agreed to allow independent tests. Reyes' lawyer, William Gerace, said results are due in about a week. "The testing will resolve this," Gerace said in open court. Reyes was arrested in June 2006 and charged with four counts of first-degree sexual assault. The prosecution alleges that between August and September 2005, Reyes assaulted the girl, whose family attended the church. The girl, now 13, had a baby boy in May 2006. DNA tests conducted by the state last year showed a more than 99 percent chance that Reyes is the father, according to the prosecutor in the case, Sandra Tullius. Reyes, 53, was pastor of Iglesia De Dios, Cristo Te Llama, on Broad Street when the alleged assaults occurred. In February, Reyes refused an offer to plead guilty in exchange for a prison sentence of 15 years. He asked Miano for another DNA test by an independent evaluator. Held with bail set at $750,000 since his arrest, Reyes is scheduled to return to court on Aug. 14. When he appeared in court last summer to deny the charges, about 40 of his followers crowded the proceedings in a show of support. That number has dwindled over the past year, and on Wednesday there were three. The case first came to the attention of police in May 2006 when they got a call from the principal of a local elementary school about a student who complained that she had been sexually assaulted by her pastor, court records say. Two days later, the girl delivered the baby at Hartford Hospital, where she gave a statement to police detailing the instances in which she claimed Reyes had sexually assaulted her, court records say. The girl said the first assault happened in a van after a church function. Reyes is charged with assaulting the girl three more times in his church office. Contact Tina A. Brown at tabrown@courant.com
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