Santa Ana Church Leader Sentenced to 45 Years to Life for Sexually Assaulting Three Young Girls He Met at Church

Santa Ana Church Leader Sentenced to 45 Years to Life
for Sexually Assaulting Three Young Girls He Met at Church

Santa Ana - A church leader has been sentenced to 45 years to life for sexually assaulting three young girls he met while attending church in Santa Ana. He became a pastor at another Santa Ana church following the alleged assaults.

Carlos Ramirez Valdez, 61, of Riverside, was convicted in August of 11 felony counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a minor under the age of 14 and three felony counts of oral copulation or sexual penetration of a child 10 or younger. The assaults occurred between 2012 and 2019.

Valdez was a church leader at Iglesia De Dios Ebenezer Church in Santa Ana during the assaults. Valdez is accused of luring a girl into his van parked in the church parking lot or to the church's basement to sexually assault the young girl repeatedly over a seven-year period. The girl was between the ages of four to ten at the time of the assaults.

The girl reported the past abuse to a school counselor.

In January 2020, a girl reported to Garden Grove police that between 2014 to 2015 Valdez sexually assaulted her when he gave her a ride home from church when the main pastor was not available. The girl was nine at the time of the assault.

Also in January 2020, a third girl reported to Riverside police that in 2017 Valdez had repeatedly sexually assaulted her in a backyard shed over an eight-month period. She was seven and eight at the time of the assaults.

"Churches should be safe sanctuaries not hunting grounds for child molesters," said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. "These young girls were subjected to unimaginable abuse by someone in a position of trust. The sexual exploitation of children will never be acceptable, and predators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

Deputy District Attorney Elise Levy of the Sexual Assault Unit prosecuted this case.

Click here for full press release.

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