The Contra Costa County DA’s office has filed charges against a Richmond pastor accused of sexually assaulting young members of his congregation.
Victor Hernández Pineda is facing 16 charges varying from rape of a child over 14 years old, to kidnapping and molestation.
The DA's office says four alleged victims have come forward, and they want to know if there are any more.
“I’ll say some of them occurred at church, and unfortunately, he is a pastor and a position of trust who is holding himself out to be a man of God. And in my experience, that makes him unique, in that it is not that difficult to get yourself alone with a child, either in your office or other places in the church, to talk to them when they come for counseling or it has to do with the choir or anything like that, you have unique access to the children,” said Deputy District Attorney Paul Graves.
Hernández is being held at the West County Detention Facility and his bond is set at $10 million dollars.
He will be arraigned Wednesday in Martinez.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
