Idaho Church Deacon Charged with Sex Crime

NAMPA, Idaho (AP) — A church deacon from southwestern Idaho has been charged with lewd conduct after prosecutors said he abused a young church member. The Idaho Press-Tribune reports Alexander Gonzalez Garcia, a deacon with the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Nampa, was arrested Tuesday.

Prosecutors say a girl younger than 16 told investigators in July that Garcia inappropriately touched her in a church storage room during a potluck a few days earlier.

Court records say Garcia was also interviewed by police detectives. The detectives said in court documents that Garcia claimed Satan was also in the storage room and may have taken control of his body. Garcia is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Dec. 24.