North Bergen Pastor/exorcist Guilty of Molesting 13-year-old Boy
By Michaelangelo Conte
It took the jury just over 30 minutes yesterday to convict a North Bergen church pastor of aggravated criminal sexual contact against a 13-year-old boy in 2012. Gregorio Martinez, 47, who was described as a prophet and exorcist during testimony, was also convicted of child abuse and endangering the welfare of the child. He was found guilty of touching the victim's genital area and kissing him on the lips while inside the boy's mother's minivan in a Walmart parking lot in North Bergen on June 10, 2012. The boy's mother had gone into the store to buy diapers for her 4-year-old daughter, according to testimony. At the time, Martinez was a deacon at Third Bethesda Pentecostal Church in Union City and knew the boy through the church, according to testimony. He is currently co-pastor at Elohim Church in North Bergen. Martinez, a Jersey City resident, faces up to five years in prison when sentenced on April 12 by Hudson County Superior Court Judge Mitzy Galis-Menendez in the Hudson County Administration Building in Jersey City. Martinez, who remains out on bail, said he had no comment following his conviction which was returned at about 1:10 p.m. During closing arguments yesterday, the prosecution described the victim as someone who knew his molester as a deacon, prophet and exorcist, adding that the boy was frightened and angry because he believed his mother thought the molestation was OK with her. "There was a lot of testimony about him 'delivering' people and exorcisms and removing demons and evil spirits from people," Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Linda Claude-Oben said yesterday. "This defendant, this prophet who could take out demons, ask yourself if (the victim) could have done something. Ask yourself if he would be confused and scared and not know what to do." Based on testimony, the prosecutor said the victim's mother was practically Martinez's chauffeur and said the married woman would even clean Martinez's bedroom when asked. Claude-Oben said Martinez was with the victim's mother when she picked her son up from school the day after the incident. The boy was upset and said he wanted to go straight home, prompting Martinez to ask, "Is this about last night?" Claude-Oben said. The boy testified that his mother and Martinez were speaking in Spanish and that he heard the word "kiss" but he could not follow the conversation, the prosecutor said, adding that he figured it was OK with his mom, since she didn't appear angry. Reinforcing that was the fact that his mother did not go to police. Instead, the family went on a planned vacation, Claude-Oben said. But in late August 2012 the boy finally told his mom. "Didn't you know what happened to me that night?' He told her the defendant touched him in the back of the minivan," Claude-Oben said to the jury. The boy testified that after telling his mother, he was still angry at her, and even more angry at Martinez. Meanwhile, the defense presented three alibi witnesses during the trial: Martinez's co-pastor at Elohim Church, her son, and another woman, who all said Martinez was at his co-pastor's Jersey City home on June 10, 2012, for a day of socializing, dinner and prayer. The co-pastor and her son testified that he spent night at the home. Defense attorney Louis Serterides told the jury they should not give much thought to the testimony about exorcisms, saying they are a recognized practice in mainstream religions. He also said there were many discrepancies in the state's case, too many to convict a man on such significant charges. When Martinez made his first court appearance on the charges in September 2012, court officials said he was a native of the Dominican Republic and was not a United States citizen.
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