MARYLAND
WJLA
By Kevin Lewis, ABC 7 News
July 16, 2015
ROCKVILLE, Md. (WJLA) – A Rockville youth group leader is accused of sexually abusing a young girl he was supposed to educate about God and religion.
In February, Paolo Belarmino, 24, met a 13-year-old girl while leading youth group at River of Life Church in Rockville. The predominantly Filipino congregation is small in size, and therefore rents space from Twinbrook Community Church along Halpine Road.
Police say Belarmino used his position of power and trust to flirt with the teenager. It wasn’t long before he began picking her up from Shady Grove Middle School in Derwood following afternoon dismissal. By April, the two were officially dating, and according to court documents, routinely having sexual intercourse.
In attempt to keep their relationship hush-hush, Belarmino would take the middle schooler to secluded places like Rock Creek Regional Park where they’d engage in sexual relations, court documents state. However, in at least three separate cases, Belarmino was bolder, sneaking into the girl’s bedroom where he allegedly had sex with her.
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