BishopAccountability.org
 
  Trial of Minister Set for Tuesday

By Chad Nation
The Nonpareil
January 24, 2011

http://www.southwestiowanews.com/articles/2011/01/24/council_bluffs/doc4d3db13e9349b656233350.txt

The sexual abuse trial of a minister who served a Spanish-speaking congregation in Council Bluffs is scheduled to begin Tuesday.

Efrain Umana, 55, is charged with second-degree sexual abuse, third-degree sexual abuse and two counts of assault with intent to commit sexual abuse.

Umana was arrested in June 2009 and has been free on a $50,000 bond.

According to court documents, Umana is alleged to have had sex with a 10- or 11-year-old girl in 2003 in the sound room of the Council Bluffs church where he was pastor.

Umana is accused in police reports of having sex with the girl once as well as inappropriately touching her on three occasions.

The church, at 2940 Fifth Ave., is called Templo Monte Horeb. Umana left the church, which is not affiliated with a national church body, in 2008.

The affidavit also stated that Umana went to the Council Bluffs home of a female parishioner in 2007 while her husband was working. He allegedly told her she was going to have sex with him, but she refused, the affidavit states. He then forced her to have sex with him, according to the affidavit.

Umana also is charged with assaulting two other females with the intent to commit sex abuse. In September 2008, he called one to the Bluffs church. The woman helped him take items from his car into the church. Inside, with the lights off, Umana grabbed her and kissed her, according to the affidavit. She pushed him away, ran to turn on the lights and kept her distance until she left, the affidavit states.

According to police reports, such advances occurred multiple times in the church and once in the woman's home.

Another female reported that she was working in the church's linen room in 2008 when Umana hugged her and kissed her on the neck without her permission, according to the affidavit.

Jury selection in the case is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.

Contact: cnation@nonpareilonline.com

 
 

Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.