Pastor sexually abuses a baby and other kids in New York, feds say. ‘I cannot stop’
A pastor used his Long Island church to find children to sexually abuse, federal officials said.
Jose Saez Jr., 28, faces an array of charges related to sex crimes against children and child pornography, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York said in a Dec. 6 news release.
While he was a pastor at a church in Brentwood, New York, Saez used a messaging app called Telegram “to engage in sexually explicit conversations with minors and with a law enforcement officer acting in an undercover capacity,” officials said.
He told the undercover officer he used the church to find children to exploit and that he had sexually abused an infant, federal officials said. He also said children ages 11-15 were his “sweet spot,” according to the attorney’s office.
McClatchy News could not immediately reach Saez’s legal representatives for comment on Dec. 8.
“When you go to church you expect to be safe and protected...but that’s not what members of Pastor Jose Saez’s congregation got,” James Smith, FBI assistant director-in-charge, said in the release. “He allegedly possessed child pornography and sexually abused multiple children. This is unfathomable to the families and caused lasting harm to the children.”
A task force officer with the FBI searched Saez’s phone Sept. 28 and found child pornography videos he had received from a high school student, the officer said in the criminal complaint.
“I’m sorry that I cannot stop,” Saez told the officer, according to the complaint.
He was charged with eight counts related to sexual exploitation, coercion and child pornography in a Nov. 21 indictment. If convicted, he could face up to 30 years in prison, officials said.
He was arraigned Dec. 6 and pleaded not guilty, court records show. He was denied bail and is next scheduled to appear in court in January.
Investigators are asking anyone with information to come forward and contact tips.fbi.gov or 212-384-1000.
If you have experienced sexual assault and need someone to talk to, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline for support at 1-800-656-4673 or visit the hotline's online chatroom.
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