Malo “Victor” Monteiro was youth pastor at Faith Baptist Church in Wildomar, California, and assistant pastor at Menifee Baptist Church in Menifee, California. He was arrested in 2018 on suspicion of molesting children over an eighteen-year period and charged with seven felony counts: intent to commit rape, mayhem or sodomy, lewd and lascivious acts with force on a child under 14, lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14, distributing harmful matter and sexual penetration by force.
Several victims came forward telling their stories on Facebook and to the press. In a suit against the church, it was revealed that when a girl came forward and told the pastor about his youth pastor, the girl was threatened and punished. When a girl alleged she was molested by the bus driver, he was moved to another church and she was labelled a homewrecker. There was a culture of blaming the victim and letting the molester continue with impunity. Until he was arrested…
He pled guilty to four counts of lewd acts on a child of 14-15 years of age with the defendant at least 10 years older, two counts of sexual penetration with a foreign object and one count of attempted copulation of a minor. He was sentenced to just five years which disappointed his victims. To add to their consternation, he was released early thanks to COVID. Somehow it was determined that an offender who raped children for twenty years was a low-risk offender.
- The Press Enterprise: Wildomar pastor from Colton accused of sexually assaulting children for 20 years
- The Press Enterprise: Wildomar’s Faith Baptist Church perpetuated culture of secrecy allowing sex abuse for decades, alleged victims claim
- Valley News: Faith Baptist sexual abuse victim ‘disappointed’ by early release of her abuser
November 16, 2018