The founder of the Richmond Outreach Center (ROC) was sentenced to 40 years in prison for sexually assaulting two young girls.
Geronimo Aguilar, who stepped down as senior pastor of ROC, was convicted of the assaults earlier this year, even though the encounters occurred nearly two decades ago.
A judge sentenced Aguilar to 40 years for the first and second counts and 20 years for counts three, four, five, six and seven. He will serve the counts concurrently and will be eligible for parole in 20 years, ABC 8News reports.
“We’re super grateful,” victim Nancy Mohr tells ABC 8News. “We were grateful just for the guilty verdict three months ago. 40 years … That’s a lot of time.”
Charisma News previously reported several women came forward after Aguilar was charged with sexual assault, claiming they had sexual relations with him. Amber Baker told 8News she had sex with Aguilar when she was 18. She is the fourth woman to claim to the news station she had sex with the pastor as a teen.
Baker was 5 years old when she started attending the church. She said Aguilar—who is married and has five children—took her, her 16-year-old sister and two other young girls to a timeshare when his wife was out of town.
“He brought us alcohol, we got drunk and the rest is history,” Baker said. “I had just turned 18. We had sex. It was wrong. Just because it is not illegal doesn’t mean it is not wrong, and he was my pastor. I moved to Richmond to serve God.”
