Crime & Safety
Former Church Volunteer Gets Life for Molestation
A former church volunteer and North Cobb High School graduate will serve a life sentence in jail after pleading guilty to sexually molesting nine young boys and teenagers.
On Friday, a former volunteer at NorthStar Church in Kennesaw pleaded guilty to aggravated child molestation, aggravated sodomy and child molestation and was sentenced to life in prison, according to WCTV, WSBTV and The MDJ.
Cesar Pastrana, 25, was arrested in February after being accused of molesting a 14-year-old boy.
Pastrana will serve 30 years before he is eligible for parole, The MDJ reports. Pastrana was born in Mexico and is not a U.S. citizen. If he is paroled, Pastrana will be deported, The Examiner and WSBTV report.
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Two of the families of the victims have filed a lawsuit against the church, arguing the abuse could have been prevented, according to WCTV, The Examiner and The MDJ. The cases were filed in Clayton County, where the church’s registered agent is located.
In May, the Cobb County grand jury returned a 15-count indictment, charging Pastrana with aggravated child molestation, aggravated sodomy and child molestation involving nine boys.
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Pastrana was arrested Feb. 10 on two counts of child molestation and two of aggravated child molestation after police said he molested a juvenile during a church lock-in at a private Acworth home Feb. 3 to 4. The warrants for those initial charges covered the lock-in and an August incident, according to jail records.
Police spokesman Sgt. Dana Pierce said in February that Pastrana also confessed to molesting two boys in a private home in unincorporated Cobb County from December 2010 to January 2011.
Another warrant Feb. 20 added another count of aggravated child molestation and three counts of aggravated sodomy from an October incident.
Pastrana physically injured a 14-year-old boy during the fall incident at his home, according to the arrest warrant, obtained by the AJC.
All of those incidents occurred after Pastrana was banned from Barber Middle School in Acworth after volunteering there two years ago.
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