Chula Vista
Two ministers were sentenced to three years’ summary probation for failing to tell authorities that a girl in their church alleged she was molested.
Pastor George G. Nobbs and Assistant Pastor Arthur E. Hodges of the South Bay Pentecostal Church in Chula Vista were convicted of the misdemeanors in November after a series of appeals. In a landmark decision, a judge ruled that the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion does not allow ministers to disobey child-abuse reporting laws.
The accused man, Lyn Meche, pleaded no contest in 1989 to two misdemeanor counts of molestation. Meche, who was a lay preacher at the church, was sentenced to three years’ probation.
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