TULSA (OK)
CBS Houston
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Prosecutors told a judge Tuesday that more witnesses or victims could come forward as police examine more deeply allegations of sex crimes at a 17,000-member megachurch deep in the Bible Belt.
Israel Castillo, 23, a former janitor at the Victory Christian Center, attended court for a preliminary hearing Tuesday after being accused of making a lewd proposal to a 15-year-old girl, but Tulsa County Special Judge Clifford Smith postponed proceedings until Nov. 29 after lawyers for the state said new information was forthcoming from at least one person. Castillo’s lawyer and the church said they knew nothing of it.
“I was prepared this morning to announce to the court that my client and I were ready to proceed with the preliminary hearing,” lawyer Hugh Hood wrote in an email. “Mr. Castillo has entered a plea of not guilty. I will continue to demand that his due process rights are protected throughout these proceedings.”
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