A volunteer pastor from Santa Ana suspected of attempting to arrange a sexual encounter with someone posing as a teenage girl remained behind bars Tuesday following his arrest over the weekend in Brea.
Elmer Pineda-Molina was arrested Sunday afternoon on the 800 block of East Birch Street and was booked on suspicion of contacting and meeting a minor for sexual purposes, Brea Police Lt. Chris Harvey said.
Pineda-Molina was identified as a volunteer pastor at Iglesia Ministerios Betesda in Santa Ana, according to a statement issued by the church on Monday.
“We take this with full commitment and complete seriousness,” Dr. Ronald Vides, general pastor of Ministerios Betesda, wrote in the statement in both Spanish and English. “We encourage our church family to lift this situation and all involved and affected by this up in prayer. We also pray for the authorities as they continue their investigation.”
The events leading up to Pineda-Molina’s arrest had been live-streamed by CC Unit, an independent group that identifies and confronts potential child predators.
A representative from the organization told the Daily Pilot that they gathered and turned over evidence to police. Harvey declined to comment on whether police relied on potential evidence from the group.
Pineda-Molina was taken into custody without incident. He is being held at the Theo Lacy Facility and was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday, Harvey said.
It was not immediately clear from online records whether an attorney had been assigned to defend him.
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