TORRANCE, Calif. (KTLA) — A South Bay worship leader has been charged with molesting a 4-year-old girl, police said.
Jose Mendez Vazquez, 67, worked at several South Bay churches that serve Spanish-speaking congregations.
The charges stem from an incident that allegedly took place near his home in Torrance in 2008.
The alleged victim, who is now 8 years old, recently told a friend what happened, and the friend informed Torrance police.
Vazquez was arrested on Dec. 3 and charged with two counts of committing lewd acts upon a child. He has pleaded not guilty and is free on bail.
Investigators believe that Vazquez might have had contact with children at the churches he served.
Anyone with information about Vazquez is asked to call detectives at 310-618-5571.
20 Comments to “Church Leader Accused of Molesting 4-year-old Girl”
January 10, 2013 at 5:34 AM
Imagine that. I would think the fear of my child getting molested by some sick religious pervert would be enough to keep them out of church
January 10, 2013 at 7:14 AM
La sopa
January 10, 2013 at 10:03 AM
These people will do anything to put themselves in a position to take advantage of others. Pig.
January 10, 2013 at 10:38 AM
these allegations. don't believe everything you read!! idiots.
January 10, 2013 at 12:07 PM
Wow these Christians are just out of control! Preaching to everyone else like they are perfect and then their leaders are the biggest pervs going!!
Put 'em all on an island so they can do whatever they want to each other!!
January 10, 2013 at 1:01 PM
These are just the actions of one man….not all "Christians"….
January 11, 2013 at 2:43 AM
I agree. Amazing how they preach that gays are pedophiles yet statistically orgainized relgions produce the vast majority of pedophiles.Period. Then again it should not be a surprise since they preach that rape is a blessing from God.
Seems to me they are worshipping the devil and not God. They promote hate, bigotry, racism, violence, rape etc… All tings Satan promote the practice.
January 11, 2013 at 5:34 AM
The "church" does not produce child molesters. However, the majority of the "church" is completely asleep, and too often churches have provided safe havens for these types of criminals to hide out. One solution: the Word. Even those who judge "gays" as the one guy above stated…those people are the very "Christians" who do NOT read the Bible. The Bible says that you will KNOW Jesus' disciples by their LOVE. Clearly, this is NOT LOVE. So people…Just because someone claims to be a "Christian" does NOT make them a follower of Jesus Christ. DO NOT believe everything that comes out of people's mouths. LOVE is expressed by the FRUIT of one's actions… Remember, you can't hear fruit; you can only SEE it!
January 10, 2013 at 12:31 PM
There's got to be more to this story. I have an 8 year old son who has very little memory of a vacation to Disney when he was 4. Plus do you arrest and charge a guy just because an 8 year old says so? Must be something else we're not being told.
January 10, 2013 at 2:24 PM
Not all children are the same. I remember a lot of things when I was 4-5. My childre who are teenagers don't. Besides a thing like this it stays with you…. it can be hard to forget.
January 11, 2013 at 4:11 AM
being raped is not something you just forget.
January 11, 2013 at 11:15 AM
I would rather give a possible rape victim the benefit of the the doubt than a possible child rapist. And being molested is a traumatic experience that stays with you no matter how young you are when it happens.
January 10, 2013 at 7:42 PM
This is likely a false accusation.
The child with the story comes from a family plagued with alcohol and drug problems. The family has had police come to their house for their family issues. They have guests who linger along the street who are "extremely high" on drugs and/or alcohol.
The defendant is just a senior and a neighbor who never interacts with the girl. I am another neighbor who is impartial. The ratings chasing media attached "religious leader" to a man who just goes to and is involved with his church.
January 11, 2013 at 11:24 AM
I'm sorry, but you don't sound the least bit "impartial".
January 11, 2013 at 11:58 AM
"the child comes from a family plagued with problems" – in other words, a PERFECT victim for a molester because people will automatically dismiss the complaint as a false accusation.
January 10, 2013 at 9:37 PM
Children can be easily manipulated to say whatever an adult wants them to say. This can be done through a method of questioning known as suggestibility. Scientific studies have shown 60% of child molestation allegations are false. Even though it is our Constitutional right that an accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty, many people automatically assume the person accused of most horrific crime must be guilty because of our heart felt emotions involving precious children.
January 11, 2013 at 11:31 AM
Why wasn't their god there to protect them. People need to believe in themselves, parents must stop trusting authority figures and church figures, clergy , etc.
Wake up people, the church is not you friend, the church is your abuser.
January 11, 2013 at 12:01 PM
Mick…..you are lost!…..There are thousands of church's in our country and cases like these are extremely rare. My church, its leadership and its members are our friends. You know what else Mick….God wants you to know him better and would love to have you draw nearer to Him. By the way, I thought in the USA you were innocent until proven guilty. Everybody is out to hang this guy without a trial. If the accusations are true, he should be punished severely, however lets let the incident take its course before we hang the suspect.
February 10, 2013 at 6:21 AM
This man is sick