Fugitive NJ pastor accused of sexually assaulting 4 young parishioners to be sentenced

NEW JERSEY
PIX 11

DECEMBER 23, 2016, BY TALIA TIRELLA

NEWARK, N.J. — A pastor accused of sexual offenses and child abuse against four parishioners is returning to court Friday after he fled the U.S. following his initial conviction and was found in Honduras.

Gregorio Martinez, 49, allegedly sexually abused a 13-year-old boy and three 19-year-old men while working as a pastor at various churches and leader of prayer groups in North Bergen, according to the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office. Martinez escaped from the U.S. after several charges were brought against him for the incidents, and he was detained by Honduran authorities in August.

Martinez was charged in February 2015 with one count of aggravated criminal sexual contact, one count of endangering the welfare of a child and one count of child abuse after it was found he had allegedly committed sexual offenses against a 13-year-old boy who was a church parishioner, according to the Hudson County Prosecutor’s office.

Before jury members could be selected for a case based on these initial charges, Martinez was charged with additional assault charges for allegedly sexually assaulting a 19-year-old man who was also a church attendee.

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