KATY, Texas — A church pastor in Stafford, Texas was convicted of indecent assault involving a member of his church. Gregorio Maldonado, 46, said the devil made him do it.
Over 100 members of Maldonado's church showed up at the close of his trial at the Fort Bend County Courthouse in Richmond.
After a jury convicted him, a judge sentenced Maldonado to one year in county jail plus a fine of $4,000 for inappropriately touching a young woman in 2021. It was the maximum sentence allowed for the crime.
The victim and her family were living with Maldonado in his Katy home at the time. After everyone else was asleep, prosecutors say he snuck into her room, crawled into her bed and began touching her and making her touch him.
Prosecutors say the victim was initially afraid to tell anyone because of Maldonado's position in the church and his status with her family.
A few months after the assault, she told her father who recorded a confrontation with Maldonado. The pastor apologized to the victim and claimed he couldn't remember what happened. Maldonado told them that if anything did happen, the devil made him do it.
“The defendant abused his position of trust, and the victim has had to wait years for her day in court. She has suffered invisible scars left by the defendant, some of which will remain for the rest of her life,” prosecutor Michelle Anderson said. “But she is a survivor. She now plans on using her traumatic experience to benefit other victims; she plans on going to the police academy to become an investigator for sexual crimes.”
In her victim impact statement, the woman thanked the church members who came to support Maldonado. She told them their prayers for justice had been answered because he was convicted.
“This is the first case of its kind tried in Fort Bend County," District Attorney Brian Middleton said. "The verdict and sentence set a precedent that the people of Fort Bend County will not allow this kind of disgusting behavior and will not tolerate gross abuses of power.”
