Trial begins for pastors charged in alleged rape, by Lisa Redmond, Lowell Sun (December 11, 2015)

LOWELL -- After allegedly enduring years of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of local church pastors Oscar Sanchez and Luisa Osorio-Sanchez, the victim testified that when she rebelled, she was beaten, choked and subjected to an exorcism.

"They thought I was possessed. They held me down and performed some sort of exorcism on me,'' the victim, now 19, testified during the husband and wife joint trial in Lowell Superior Court on Wednesday.

As of 2014, Oscar Sanchez, 35, and Luisa Osario-Sanchez, 43, both of Lowell, were listed on their Facebook pages as co-pastors of The Church of God The Holy Branch on Loring Street in Lowell.

Oscar Sanchez has been held on $100,000 cash bail for the past year, after pleading not guilty to charges of: statutory rape of a child (two counts), child rape with force (four counts), rape (three counts), indecent assault and battery on a person over 14 (two counts), attempted murder, and reckless endangerment of a child.

Luisa Osario-Sanchez, who has been free on $15,000 cash bail, has been charged with: assault to murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery, and reckless endangerment of a child.

In her opening statement, prosecutor Marisa Tagliareni told the jury that starting when the victim was 6, Oscar Sanchez would come to her bedroom at night under the guise of praying for her, but instead he would molest her.

Over a 10-year period those assaults continued, Tagliareni said.

"During that time, Luisa Osario-Sanchez was aware of the sexual abuse and did nothing,'' Tagliareni told the jury.

By the time the victim was in the seventh grade, the molestation allegedly turned to rape. The victim testified that one day after the couple had a fight, Oscar Sanchez raped her.

The victim testified that she never told anyone because when she was younger she didn't have a "moral compass'' to tell her what was happening was wrong. Later on, she knew it was wrong, but she didn't want anyone to get into trouble, she said.

But defense attorney Debra Dewitt, representing Oscar Sanchez, told the jury that the victim was a "troubled child'' who made up "a story'' of sexual and physical abuse to escape a strict religious environment.

Dewitt told the jury Oscar and Luisa Sanchez did everything to try to help this girl. The victim was in and out of treatment programs, attended Christian-based schools, and received counseling until she was surrendered to the state Department of Children and Families.

The trial is expected to continue for another week.