12 Years Later, Pastor Charged with Sexual Abuse Again

KCCI
September 28, 2016

http://www.kcci.com/news/pastor-charged-for-sexual-abuse-harboring-a-runaway/41856692

A Des Moines man is back behind bars after being sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in prison for third-degree sexual abuse and harboring a runaway.

Police said Damion Rutues, 37, hid a 15-year-old runaway girl in a small sleeping area inside a church on Forest Avenue.

Court documents show the 15-year-old girl ran away from home with her girlfriend.

Rutues let them stay inside Learning of the Lord Revival Center because the girls said they were homeless and had nowhere else to go.

“He was familiar with the family,” Des Moines Police Sgt. Paul Parizek said. “He was lying to her parents that she, in fact, was there, and while she was there he was having sexual intercourse with her.”

Rutues is listed as an associate pastor on the church's website.

Court documents say the 15-year-old's girlfriend walked in and found Rutues on top of the victim. The girlfriend reported the sexual assault to a nearby medical clinic.

Rutues was arrested in August 2015 following an investigation.

“I think the majority of our frustration with a case like this comes from…there are certain people in society, certain vocations, certain professions where we expect a higher level of behavior,” Parizek said. “Police officers are some of those and then the ministry is another one.”

The incident is all too familiar to the church. In 2004, Rutues was arrested for sexually abusing a 12-year-old and an 8-year-old he met at the church.

He was released in January 2013 after completing his sentence in that case.

Rutues' mother, Suzanne Erwin, is the lead pastor at Learning of the Lord Revival Center.

Erwin said she did not want to talk about her son's sentencing. A friend told KCCI Learning of the Lord Revival Center is a small church that mostly family members attend.