Ontario youth pastor arrested on suspicion of child sexual abuse
Police are searching for more victims who they say may have been sexually abused by Gerardo Custodio Jr, a 30-year-old youth pastor in Ontario who was arrested Sunday on suspicion of sexual abuse of minors.
Two women reported that the youth pastor of their church, Iglesia La Familia De Dios, sexually abused them between 2012 and 2015, according to a statement from the Ontario Police Department.
The women reported the abuse over the weekend, according to the statement. The first said she had contact with Custodio between 2012 and 2014, and she was 14 when the abuse occurred, “including several incidents on the church property,” according to the police statement. The second victim said Custodio abused her when she was 15, between 2014 to 2015, according to police.
Custodio’s father is the church’s senior pastor, and Custodio has been a youth pastor there “for many years,” according to the police statement. “Custodio Jr. was away from the church while attending college but has been back since 2011.”
Custodio is being held in lieu of $3-million bail, and was scheduled to appear in Rancho Superior Court on Tuesday at 7 a.m.
Anyone with information can call Ontario Police Det. Jeff Zeen at (909) 395-2744.
Reach Sonali Kohli at Sonali.Kohli@latimes.com or on Twitter @Sonali_Kohli.
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