Former Lake Forest Youth Pastor Sentenced for Sexual Battery
By Ashley Ludwig
A former Lake Forest youth pastor was sentenced Friday to two years in state prison and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration for sexual battery of four female church members. Sean Patrick Aday, a 39-year-old Lake Forest resident, pleaded guilty on Nov. 4, to two felony counts of sexual battery by restraint and two misdemeanor counts of sexual battery, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office chief of staff, Susan Kang Schroeder. "At the time of the crime, Aday was working as a youth pastor at Grace Community Church in Lake Forest," she said. "The defendant sexually assaulted four adult female church members on church property or during church trips overseas." According to the Orange County District Attorney's Office, between Jan. 1, 2008, and Nov. 6, 2015, Aday sexually touched four women against their will for the purpose of the defendant’s sexual arousal, gratification and abuse. The original crime was reported in October of 2015. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department investigated this case and arrested Aday in November of 2015. Prior to Aday’s conviction on Nov. 4, 2016, during a pre-trial hearing, three of the victims as well as family members of the victims delivered impact statements to the court pursuant to Marsy’s Law. The victims — not named here — who spoke at a preliminary trial stated that Aday abused their faith. One victim's mother alluded that Aday even dragged out the results for his own gain. “You were an authority figure and you abused that. You tried to use God to manipulate me. You knew I had a hard time trusting to begin with and when you finally gained my trust, you took advantage of it,” one victim said. Another victim said, “You may have pled guilty today, but if you had truly meant it, you would’ve said it a long time ago. You dragged this out for a year, putting everyone around you through hell.” “Because of what you’ve done, the repercussions are great. Our relationship has changed. You tore our family apart. We were always close, but we struggle now.” The mother of one victim said, “A man who is repentant will make amends and restitution to those he’s wronged ... Instead, these young women have been victimized by having to endure continuance after continuance for a year while Mr. Aday and his attorney figured out their best legal strategies.” Orange County Sheriff's Department Photo, Sean Patrick Aday
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