Brandon Pastor Faces New Molestation Charge

TBO
June 17, 2014

http://tbo.com/news/crime/brandon-pastor-faces-new-molestation-charge-20140617/

Francisco Rios

A Brandon pastor arrested in April on molestation charges involving church members was back in custody Monday on a new charge, according to jail records.

Francisco Rios, 44, faces an addition count of lewd and lascivious molestation. He was being held without bond Tuesday, according to the Hillsborough County Jail website.

Details on the latest arrest have not been released.

Rios, the pastor at Casa De Amor Church, was arrested April 4 after Hillsborough sheriff’s deputies said he molested three females, ages 12, 17 and 43. He was later released after posting $150,000 bond.

The original investigation began in August after the three females talked to each other and discovered that Rios, of 810 N. Regent Circle, touched each inappropriately at the church, 117 W. Windhorst Road, deputies said.

The 12-year-old told investigators she was molested about two times per week over the past year, deputies said in April. The 17-year-old told investigators the inappropriate contact began in 2011. Rios molested the older female in 2013 after he convinced her it was a way to “cure a medical condition,” deputies said.

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