Deputies: Pastor withheld knowledge of sexual abuse

FLORIDA
Orlando Sentinel

By David Harris, Orlando Sentinel
7:37 p.m. EDT, July 18, 2014

A Seminole County pastor was arrested Thursday for not reporting to law enforcement that a man was sexually abusing three girls, officials said.

Pastor Cesar Chin knew about the abuse for at least a year, but said nothing to authorities, according to the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office. Both the victims and the suspect confided in Chin, and he was acting as a counselor, deputies said.

“That’s a year that went by without us being able to go in there and stop this and to provide the victims services,” said Kim Cannaday, spokeswoman for the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office. “They were allowed to be re-victimized.”

The alleged abuser, Normail Reynoso Perez, is facing abuse charges. His wife, Irma Gallegos Torres, also is facing charges for not reporting the alleged abuse. She even walked in on it once, deputies said.

The abuse of the girls may have been going on for at least seven years and would occur weekly, deputies said in the arrest affidavit.

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