A pastor at a newly formed church is accused of sexually assaulting several children, with one of the assaults occurring as far back as last year, authorities said.
Francisco Porras, 51, was arrested Monday by Van Buren police on four counts of second-degree sexual assault on accusations that he groped at least three girls within his private congregation, prosecutors said.
A probable-cause affidavit filed this week said the girls Porras is accused of assaulting told investigators he grabbed their chests and inappropriately touched them several times.
Porras is a part-time pastor at Rose of Sharon, a recently formed church that met in various churches around the Fort Smith area, including at Unity Baptist Church in Van Buren, where one of the reported assaults happened, according to court documents.
Unity Baptist declined to comment on its relationship with Porras but said he wasn't affiliated with the church and had been renting space there. The church said it was cooperating with investigators.
The mother of one of the victims reported Porras after finding his text messages on her daughter's phone, police said.
Authorities said at least one of the reported assaults happened at Porras' Van Buren home.
Contact information for Porras' church wasn't listed online or in business filings. It wasn't immediately known how often he was around children.
Each sexual-assault charge carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence and thousands of dollars in fines.
A Crawford County jail roster didn't list Porras as an inmate Thursday afternoon, and online court records didn't list an attorney to comment on his behalf.
Messages to his last known phone number weren't immediately returned.
State Desk on 05/10/2019