Prison for Youth Pastor; Two Prior Pervs Popped; a Coach's Innocence Project

We're loaded with stuff this week.

Leading off is a former youth pastor who drew a prison sentence for preying (as opposed to praying) on four female church members.

Next it's fellows with pervy pasts: One is a sex offender accused of shooting an up-skirt video of a 13-year-old girl, and the other is accused of jerking off in public.

We end with a defense attorney bring up facts that he believes should help his client, who is a high school coach accused of unlawful sex with a student.

Sean Patrick Aday, a former Lake Forest youth pastor, was sentenced last week to two years in state prison and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration for preying on four female church members, but the 39-year-old's victims do not sound as if they are ready to forgive. Aday, who pleaded guilty Nov. 4 to two felony counts of sexual battery by restraint and two misdemeanor counts of sexual battery, sexually assaulted four adult female church members on Grace Community Church property or during church trips overseas, according to the Orange County District Attorney's office. He was arrested Nov. 6, 2015, which was about a year after one victim reported the abuse to the Orange County Sheriff's Department, which then launched an investigation. That victim said to Aday through a statement to the court, “You were an authority figure and you abused that. You tried to use God to manipulate me. You knew I had a hard time trusting to begin with and when you finally gained my trust, you took advantage of it.” Her mother also gave a statement, which read, in part: “Because of what you've done, the repercussions are great. Our relationship has changed. You tore our family apart. We were always close, but we struggle now. … A man who is repentant will make amends and restitution to those he's wronged. Instead, these young women have been victimized by having to endure continuance after continuance for a year while Mr. Aday and his attorney figured out their best legal strategies.” Upon Aday's guilty plea, another victim said “if you had truly meant it, you would've said it a long time ago. You dragged this out for a year, putting everyone around you through hell.”

William Bowyer was arrested two Sunday mornings ago for allegedly masturbating in public in a Fountain Valley alley. Police say the 31-year-old Hemet resident, who was in a sleeping bag when officers confronted him, admitted to the lewd behavior. He was booked into Orange County Jail on suspicion of indecent exposure and for allegedly violating his probation for prior convictions of indecent exposure and disorderly conduct/soliciting lewd acts, police said.

Roland Moreno, a 53-year-old registered sex offender, was arrested after allegedly recording video up the skirt of a 13-year-old girl at a Michaels store in La Habra two Sunday afternoons ago, according to police. A customer of the store at 1500 W. Imperial Hwy. called police after supposedly seeing Moreno using a cell phone to shoot video up the girl's skirt without her knowledge, says La Habra Police Sgt. Jose Quirarte. Moreno, who was arrested and booked into La Habra's jail, is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 3 on three misdemeanors and a felony count of possessing images depicting someone under age 18. But Quirate notes that because 200 other up-skirt videos were found after a search of Moreno's Buena Park home, more charges may come. He could also be in hot water for being registered as a sex offender at his previous Whittier address but not his new one in Buena Park, according to Quirarte, who directed anyone with additional information about Moreno to call La Habra police detectives at (562) 383-4300.

Coleman Michael Pickell was previously in this column for allegedly having unlawful sex with a 17-year-old girl while coaching water polo at Irvine's University High School, but his attorney notes claims circumstances surrounding the case warrant consideration. First, you need to know (or be reminded) that the 23-year-old Irvine resident is charged with three felony counts of unlawful sexual intercourse, two felony charges of sexual penetration by foreign object of a minor and a felony count of oral copulation of a minor that—if he is convicted—could send Pickell to state prison for six years and four months. He was a water polo coach and volunteered as a swim coach at Uni High, where he met the 17-year-old girl and had sex with her multiple times, including in a hotel room this past October, according to prosecutors and the Irvine Police Department. But Matthew B. Wallin, Pickell's defense attorney at Wallin & Klarich, wants the public to know, “The alleged victim in this case turns 18 years old at the end of this coming January,” that the alleged incidents happened “a few months shy of her 18th birthday” and that she “willfully consented to any sexual conduct that may have occurred.” Wallin also clarifies that Pickell did not meet her in his capacity as a high school coach. “The charges, while serious in nature, are among the least serious sex offense charges in California, due to the very close age difference between our client and the alleged victim,” Wallin says. “We ask that the public reserve judgment and give our client the same presumption of innocence they would ask for themselves if they found themselves accused of a crime. The fact that someone has been accused of a crime is not evidence of their guilt.”

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