The pastor allegedly had sex with the child in the church

Today, Julio Cesar Garcia, 46, a Honduran Baptist Church pastor in Franks Eddy Village, was taken to the Belmopan Magistrate’s Court, where two counts of carnal knowledge were read to him.

According to a police report, the victim, 11, told them that at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 28, Garcia had sex with her inside the church.

It was also reported that he had sex with her again, at 6:00 p.m., but this time, it was in his house, also located in Franks Eddy Village.

The child was taken to a doctor, who confirmed that she was indeed carnally known.

In speaking with the media, the mother of the child recounted how she found out about the assaults on her child. According to her, the child was getting ready for school when she was told of it. When she inquired from the child why she didn’t tell her father or her (the mother), the response was that she was ashamed of what had happened.

But the mother, probably not wanting to start making accusations without proof, decided to question her daughter further, and each time, the answer was the same. That was when she decided to go to the police and report the incident.

Some residents of the village, most of whom attended the church with their children, are irate, because they trusted the pastor and his wife. They never expected their trust, both to God and the pastor, to be put to the test this way. They also believe that the pastor had his sights on other children of the church and are grateful that the child decided to speak out.

When Garcia appeared before Magistrate Aretha Ford, he could not be offered bail due to the nature of the offense, and as mentioned before, he was remanded to the Hattieville Prison until his next court appearance on January 25, 2013.

Garcia’s case is the second scandal associated with the Baptist Mission here in Belize. Readers may remember the case of Norman Willacey back in August of this year.

Willacey was the principal, counselor and pastor at the Belmopan Baptist High School, who was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with one of his students. Willacey denied the allegations at first, but then finally conceded, after accidentally sending some text messages to a media person, of his rendezvous with the teenager.

Willacey was suspended from his posts as principal and pastor, and on September 24, was eventually fired following investigations by the Baptist Mission.

The Baptist Mission has not sent out any official report on this latest embarrassing case of sexual deviation by one of its own, but the villagers of Franks Eddy say they can only hope that they (the Baptist Mission) will seriously investigate the new matter.