Sergio Alvarizares
Claims to fame: Pastor, Casa del Padre Church, Portland, Oregon; convicted sexual abuser and would-be rapist
Moral apex: “Members of the church brought charges against Alvarizares in October 2007 after police responded to a call of a disturbance at the church and found several members of the church arguing with Alvarizares over allegations of sexual misconduct.” [Fox 12, June 4, 2008]
Total victims: Eight women.
How it came down: After the police call, “six women from the church approached the Multnomah County sheriff’s office with their allegations of sex crimes.” [Portland Tribune, October 19, 2007]
Plea: Guilty to “first-degree attempted sexual abuse plus four other counts of third-degree attempted sexual abuse.”
Sentence: 42 months (he could have gotten 18 years), followed by ten years’ probation.
Not surprisingly, the church’s Web site scrubbed everything but its address and service schedule right after Alvarizares’ sentencing, and disappeared entirely a few months later. Just prior to the scandal, it looked like this.
(Clumsily translated: “Dr. Sergio G. Alvarizares is the Pastor and founder of El Shaddai International Ministry in the city of Portland and the churches ‘El Shaddai’ Northwest USA, and now Pastor General’s Father’s House International Ministry, Inc. Sergio Apostol, now covers 1268 congregations in the world, including USA, Mexico, Central and South America, Cuba and India. His review begins back in Guatemala City which is the birthplace. Over the years it was established in cities around Los Angeles where he grew up and his life for over 25 years.”)
Memorable observation:
The key to this story is Alvarizares’s alleged exploitation of older immigrant women. They are a class of people with few options. It is easy for a sexual predator to take advantage of women in a situation like this. Alvarizares seems to have used his position of authority as a pastor to pressure women into having sex while picking their pockets to support his lavish lifestyle. He sounds like a real “man of god” to me.— Mojoey
I wonder if Jesus would live in a 1.4 million house?
October 21, 2007
Suggested Bible reading for Mr. Alvarizares:
He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.— Job 20:15
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