Two Ohio men, one of them a pastor, admitted their guilt in horrific cases of child sex abuse. “The selling of a human being for the purpose of sex is Stephen King-level evil,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said.
One man trafficked a 14-year-old girl for money, the other was a pastor who coerced a teenager into a sexual relationship and claimed God told him to do it. Now both men are headed to jail.
The Pastor
Cesar Agusto Guerrero, Jr., 42, is the pastor of the Mision Cristiana el Calvario Church is Sharonville. The Liberty Township man admitted to engaging in sex acts with a 17-year-old in his church office last summer.
Guerrero told the child, God had spoken to him. He claimed the only way to get out of the dark place was for the girl to have sexual relations with him. He called sexual contact a “cleansing process.”
The twisted pastor cited Bible verses while he communicated with the victim via sexually explicit text messages, audio calls, and video calls on Facebook Messenger.
He pleaded guilty to coercion and enticement via video conference in the U.S. District Court. It is recommended he get 10 years in prison for his crime.
The Trafficker
Nicholas Salvadore Cochran, 28, of Lima was already a registered sex offender when he was busted as part of Operation Independence Day – a nationwide FBI-led operation to identify and arrest sex traffickers and recover child victims.
“While unthinkable to most of us, sex trafficking of children is real and organized,” said U.S. Attorney David M. DeVillers. “We must recognize the unthinkable and report suspicious activity for the sake of our most vulnerable. I would like to tell you that this is an isolated incident. It is not.”
25 Ads For Sex With Child
A 14-year-old Celina girl went missing last summer. Family members told police they thought she was in Dublin with a man called ‘Nick.’
During the investigation, officers checked websites used to advertise prostitution. They found 25 ads posted in the Lima, Findlay, Dayton, and Columbus areas advertising sex with the girl. Those ads included nude photographs of the 14-year-old.
The suspect was arrested during a traffic stop in Lima on a failure to appear warrant. He had been convicted of two counts of sexual battery and one count of attempted sexual battery in Henry County, Ohio in 2009.
The Sentence
Cochran pleaded guilty to:
- Sex trafficking a minor
- Committing a sex offense against a minor as a registered as a sex offender
He was sentenced to 500 months in prison. Additionally, Cochran is required to:
- Pay full restitution to the victim and other affected by the crimes
- Remain under court supervision for the rest of his life
- Pay a fine and special assessment of $10,200