Maricopa pastor, 68, charged with lewd and lascivious acts with girl
Apr. 28—A 68-year-old Maricopa pastor has been charged with committing lewd and lascivious acts upon a child after a girl alleged the religious leader kissed and touched her inappropriately.
The girl — who said she was either 12 or 13 at the time — said Maricopa Community Church pastor Stephen McCurtis was giving her a driving lesson in his white Tesla when he kissed her on her mouth and touched her inappropriately while she was wearing clothing, according to offense reports filed in Kern County Superior Court and released Friday to The Californian.
An attorney for McCurtis could not be reached Friday. McCurtis denied touching the child intimately but told a deputy that he kissed the girl. The defendant, who acknowledged his actions were inexcusable, also added he was upset these allegations were reported because he apologized to the girl and thought nothing else would happen, according to the offense reports.
"I'm not the pursuer. That's important, I need you to write that down. I was the pursued," McCurtis told the deputy, according to the offense reports.
McCurtis, who has known the girl since she was much younger, said in the offense reports the child asked him several times to get a ride in his car.
While driving in the car, McCurtis said he held her hand, the offense reports say. As both switched seats from the passenger to the driver's side, he gave her a "good hug now because she was older" and kissed her either on the "neck or the forehead," the offense reports added.
The deputy asked McCurtis if he kissed the girl on the mouth, which was a separate occasion than the other alleged instances of physical touch.
"Yes," McCurtis said. It happened once, the pastor added in the offense reports.
McCurtis was then asked by a deputy why he kissed a child on the lips.
"Male response. I should not have done that and I felt really bad after," he told the deputy in the offense reports.
The defendant was also asked if he thought the girl was sexually attractive, to which McCurtis responded, "I thought she was pretty" but that he is a married man and so "I know not to go crazy," according to sheriff's reports.
"I did kiss her and I shouldn't have done that," McCurtis told the deputy.
The girl told McCurtis she loved him, which he said "messed" up his head, the deputy wrote. He said he never saw the girl in a romantic light until she said "I love you" and thought she wasn't joking, the offense reports said.
McCurtis disagreed when the deputy said a 12- or 13-year-old girl won't attempt to come on to a man in his sixties. Adults are responsible for not taking advantage of kids and the defendant abused his position of trust as an adult and pastor, the deputy wrote. McCurtis agreed his actions were inexcusable and he made a mistake, the offense reports say.
McCurtis also became upset after learning the incident was reported to law enforcement because he thought he had "settled it," according to offense reports.
He also reflected back on his actions when the deputy said he was submitting his investigation to be reviewed by prosecutors for any charges.
"Well I know this will mess up the church, I'm just saying, if this goes any further period, it will hurt a lot of people, not just me, my family, my wife, everybody that goes here, the whole city would be devastated," McCurtis said, according to offense reports. "I will be devastated."
McCurtis has been charged with a felony of lewd or lascivious act with a child under 14 years old. A pre-preliminary hearing is set for May 2.
You can reach Ishani Desai at 661-395-7417. You can also follow her at @_ishanidesai on Twitter.
