According to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, “After a bench trial in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, MD, the Honorable Karla Smith found defendant, Erick Odir Vidal-Fuentes, 39, of Hyattsville, guilty of Second-Degree Rape and Fourth-Degree Sex Offense. The trial concluded Tuesday, July 11, 2023. Vidal-Fuentes faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced on October 4th, 2023 at 9 a.m.
This stems from an incident on September 29th, 2020, at the Iglesia Pentecostal El Fin Viene on the 7500 block of New Hampshire Ave. in Takoma Park, where Vidal-Fuentes was serving as pastor. The victim was a parishioner. Vidal-Fuentes currently has another case pending for assault on an additional parishioner who came forward and testified during this trial.
“The defendant abused his position as head of a church to gain the confidence of this parishioner, and then violated her trust, victimizing her,” said State’s Attorney John McCarthy. “We thank Assistant State’s Attorney Gabriel Carrera for his work in this matter, and we also thank the victim for having the bravery to come forward and testify in the trial, helping to ensure Vidal-Fuentes is not able to do further harm in the community.”
