A pastor from Carson (the city where I work) was arrested for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. Pastor Leonel Pelayo’s church is on 99th street and Vermont Ave, which is an area known as South Central LA, but is better known as a no man’s land. The freeways take drivers around this area under the mistaken assumption that there is nothing of value there. Since I was born and raised near there (at least my early years), I don’t quite understand the distinction. I know it’s not as safe as some of the more affluent middleclass neighborhoods that surround it, but it not a war zone either. There are churches aplenty though. They tend to be the storefront variety.
Pelayo’s alleged victim is 14 years old.
Police say in a news release that Pelayo, the pastor at a church in South Los Angeles, befriended the teenager in a church youth group and took her to several vacant properties to have sex with her.
Read more: South LA pastor arrested in teen sex case
Let’s see, the possibilities are The Do Right Christian Church, the Iglesia Monte Horeb, or the first Baptist Church of South Los Angeles. I’m betting on the Iglesia Monte Horeb.
