Posted on 03/13/2002 5:43:18 AM PST by areafiftyone
An Allapattah Baptist minister who once led an anti-crime march was arrested Monday night after police found him inside a parked van, naked, having sex with a 17-year-old boy.
Misael Castillo, 41, was charged with having unlawful sexual acts with a minor. The longtime pastor of Jerusalem Baptist Church, Castillo -- married with two children -- was released on $15,000 bond Tuesday morning.
''He was leading a double life,'' said Miami police Lt. William Schwartz. ``Family and church on one side, secret sexual liaisons on the other.''
The sex was consensual, police said. Castillo met the youth in an Internet chat room.
Castillo did not return calls to his church and home. He has no statewide criminal record.
It was the second time in a week that a South Florida clergyman has been accused of having sexual contact with an underage boy. Last week, the Catholic bishop of the Palm Beach diocese admitted he fondled a teenage seminarian 25 years ago.
No charges have been filed in that case.
Castillo's arrest came after residents noticed a white van parked at about 10 p.m. at the side of Southwest 24th Avenue, just west of South Dixie Highway. The van was sitting under the Metrorail tracks.
''It was there for about an hour,'' said Jorge Ponce, 16, who lives in a nearby apartment. ``It was all dark in there.''
''It looked really suspicious,'' added another resident who would not give her name. ``I got kind of scared.''
Eventually someone called police. Officers pulled up and found Castillo and the teenager -- both naked -- inside the van.
''There were about three police cars and an old guy and a young guy,'' said Adriana Rodriguez, 45, who lives in the neighborhood. ``The young guy had his hands [behind his back]; the old guy had them raised up in the air.''
Police took Castillo back to headquarters. He confessed he had sex with the youth Monday night and on a previous occasion, police said.
The revelation shocked those who know Castillo.
''He's been a faithful pastor and his service has been noteworthy,'' said Rev. David Cleeland, executive director of the Miami Baptist Association, a 280-church organization to which Castillo's church belonged.
At Jerusalem Baptist Church -- a flat, lemon-colored building in the 2400 block of Northwest 23rd Street -- members appeared grim. Those who stopped by on Tuesday hurried inside without answering a reporter's questions.
One person who did speak was 10-year-old George Fletes. His mother works at the flower shop across the street from the church.
Fletes said the pastor invited him to a Friday night service two weeks ago.
''He was nice,'' George said. ``It was during that time when it was really cold. I went in there. Everything was normal.''
Not any longer.
According to Florida State Statute 794.05, anyone who is 24 or older and has sex with someone 16 or 17 -- even consensually -- has committed a second-degree felony. It is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
The youth Castillo was found with is two months shy of his 18th birthday.
Castillo lives at 1858 NW 26th St., in a neighborhood of modest one-story homes. Neighbors there praised the man who organized Allapattah's first walk against crime five years ago.
''I feel like it's [happening] to my father,'' said Sonia Rivera. ``He's so nice. He always invited me and my family to go to church.''
''He's peaceful -- you wouldn't expect something like that,'' added Jesse Gutierrez, 18. ``When our house got broken into, he called the cops and helped us out.
``He was like the neighborhood watch.''
Well THEN we should just move on.
/sarcasm
People don't realize it's not that easy to overcome something, that it takes a lot of crying and emotional struggling. And a lot just aren't willing to do that. It's too uncomfortable.
You know, as a life-long member of many churches in several states, and having worked with religious publishing, I think the answer to your question is oddly simple... that these people have invested themselves in a JOB, have "tenure", are educated in the liberal arts and aren't fit for other work.
Because there tends to be alot of Catholic bashing on these posts. The Catholic religion has had its share of problems over the centuries but so have all religions. But for some reason the Catholics are singled out for alot of bashing. Thats why we are so sensitive
Could be they are using religion as a disguise to cover their lifestyle over the years. For years these people were able to get away with it because of the people's refusal to believe that a "man of the cloth" could so such a thing. But lately the population has become wise to that fact and they can't hide behind the cloth anymore. There will be alot more exposing over the years. In a way its good that we can clean this stuff out of our churches now. The only bad thing is the victims of these sexual acts will never be the same again because of the suffering they had to endure.
There's no reason to be sensitive and every reason to be glad that we are singled out for bashing.
They're jealous! :)
On the other hand, I'd like to point out to everyone that the number of priests and ministers is in the millions, and the number of perverts among them is very tiny.
I'm just trying to put it into perspective. There are perverts everywhere. The media just ignores them unless they are religious leaders.
Okay that sounds good!! ;-)
I collect great quotes.
What are you smoking?
I'm tired of the church accepting perverts under the guise of "tolerance". Geez, check these guys out. I bet someone knew this guy was a switch-hitter.
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