Costa Mesa : Minister Faces Charge of Child Molestation
A minister who lives in Costa Mesa was arrested Monday on charges of molesting and sexually assaulting his girlfriend’s 10-year-old daughter, Fountain Valley police said.
The Rev. Merle Edwin Means, 43, a minister at the Church of Religious Science, 10000 Paramount Blvd., Downey, was arrested at the police station after questioning, Detective Rick Christensen said.
A warrant was issued Friday charging Means with one count of sexual assault and one count of child molestation, Christensen said.
The incident allegedly occurred on Dec. 28 in the Fountain Valley home of Means’ girlfriend, where the minister was living at the time, the detective said. The girl’s mother and older sister were not home at the time, he said.
Christensen said that another count may be added involving an earlier incident. Means moved out of the house after the alleged Dec. 28 incident, he said.
Means was booked into Orange County Jail and bail was set at $2,500, Christensen said.
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