OREGON
Huffington Post
By Andy Campbell
An Oregon pastor was charged 18 years after several women accused him of sexually abusing them as minors.
Michael Sperou, 64, faces three felonies for unlawful sexual penetration of people under 12, according to KOIN. Seven women have lived in frustration since their complaints about the Happy Valley pastor in the 1990s went unanswered.
Now, prosecutors are taking a second look at those complaints. Sperou, who was arrested last June, is accused of sexually abusing women — who ranged in age from 11 to 16 at the time — in the Southeast Bible Church community, which is now known as the North Clackamas Bible Community, the Oregonian reports.
Jury selection began in his case this week. Prosecutors found that the statute of limitations had expired on most of the women’s cases, but Sperou was charged based on new allegations by 28-year-old Shannon Clark. The victim said she withheld information from investigators in 1997 because she thought the community was on Sperou’s side.
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