A Predator Amongst The Flock

BELIZE
7 News Belize

The Baptist Church is immersed in scandal this evening. Just months after the pastor and principal from Belmopan Baptist High was dismissed for having a sexual relationship with an under-aged student, tonight, one of its pastors from Frank’s Eddy village is in prison, accused of having sex with an 11 year old girl, inside the church building!

And, there’s more: allegations that he had inappropriate contact with 2 more girls – and had two others on a list.

It is a story about abuse of trust, but it is also a ground shaking event in a small western village where they trusted their community pastor – and now he’s accused of being a pedophile, a predator amongst the flock, preying on their children.

We found out more when we went to Frank’s Eddy near Jaguar Paw today:

Daniel Ortiz Reporting

The Community of Franks Eddy is trying to recover from the betrayal of trust by their spiritual leader, Pastor Julio Cesar Garcia.

He is accused of a heinous case of sexual abuse against 11 year-old female, the daughter of one of the church members.

Indications are that he had intentions of targeting as many as 5 girls from the community, but tonight, he is in prison because his 11 year-old victim decided to speak up.

Voice of Mother #1 – Her Child Was Abused
“She was getting ready to go to school. So, I asked her, and she said that yes, it happened to her. I asked her why she didn’t tell me. She told me that it was because she was afraid to talk to her father or me because this happened. She said that he grabbed her by her hands and pushed her into his house. It was right there that he abused her. She told me that this happened 2 weeks ago. As soon as I found this out, I wanted to know if it was true, so I asked her again 2 more times. She told me yes every time. Immediately, I took her to the hospital, and there, they said that yes, she was abused.”

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.