ARIZONA
Arizona Republic
Sarah Anderson, The Republic | azcentral.com
A community church pastor in Phoenix has been charged with nine counts of sexual conduct and one count of sexual abuse, according to Maricopa County Superior Court documents.
An employee at Grace Walk Community Church on West Lower Buckeye Road in Phoenix first reported to the Tolleson Police Department on April 7 that an underage girl had talked about having a sexual relationship with Robert Jerez, 35, according to court documents. Jerez is a youth leader at the church and is known there as “Pastor Tony,” police said.
The victim told police that she had sex with Jerez more than 10 times since November 2015 and that the two of them exchanged nude photos via text messages. According to court documents, Jerez was aware of her age from the beginning, as she had filled out paperwork with her date of birth when she sat in a youth group with him.
The victim told police their first sexual encounter happened after church, when Jerez came to her apartment after her father went to work, and that she took one of her father’s oxycodone pills beforehand because she was nervous.
The victim also told police she would sometimes say no when he asked her to perform a sexual act, and he would coerce her into it anyway, or he would sometimes have sex with her without her explicit consent, the court document said. The last time they had sex, the victim said she was high on pills, according to court documents.
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