Pastor's Son Sentenced For Molesting Young Girls

LAKE FOREST, CA — A former Lake Forest church assistant was sentenced Friday, for molesting two girls under the age of 14-years-old. Branden Edward Shumate, now 39 of Koloa, Hawaii, was originally found guilty by a jury on Feb. 8, 2016 of three felony counts of lewd acts upon a child under the age of 14 with a sentencing enhancement allegation for committing lewd acts upon multiple victims. The victim's names have not been released.

Shumate received the maximum sentence of 45 years to life in state prison and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration.

According to the Orange County District Attorney's office, he met the girls and befriended their families when he worked as an assistant at his father's Shekinah Fellowship Church in Lake Forest. The crimes occurred in both Lake Forest and Dana Point over a period of several years.

"At the sentencing on Friday, 'Jane Doe 1' made an emotional impact statement to the court pursuant to Marsy’s Law thanking the judge and the District Attorney’s Office for our efforts," Orange County Deputy District Attorney Kristin Bracic, Sexual Assault Unit said in a statement.

According to the Orange County District Attorney's Office, in 1997, when he was 18, Shumate organized a church trip to an Irvine water park.

Prosecutors disclosed that he molested a six-year-old girl, who had fallen asleep at the church while waiting for the other children to arrive for the fieldtrip.

The child did not report the alleged crime at the time, and Shumate maintained a relationship with the family, though the girl known as Jane Doe 1 avoided any contact with him. Then, in 2003, when the girl was 12, Shumate helped her family move and they were alone again.

"During the move, the defendant drove in a vehicle alone with the victim behind her family's moving truck," the Orange County District Attorney's Office maintained in a written release. "The defendant is pulled into an empty parking lot and forcing Jane Doe 1 to orally copulate him."

The girl did not report the attack until she told a family member and friend in 2006 after Shumate allegedly tried to contact her.

In 2010, Shumate was also accused of trying to engage in a sexually explicit conversation with a 10-year-old girl, known as Jane Doe 2. Her family moved into Shumate's family home, and one day, while home alone with the girl, prosecutors allege he walked in on her in the shower and sexually assaulted her as she was drying off. She did not tell her mother about the alleged incident until 2011 after her family had moved out of state to Alaska.

Shortly after that, Shumate was extradited to Orange County from his home in Hawaii. He continues to be held in Orange County Jail.

Related:

Another Youth Pastor Accused of Molesting Teen Congregants
Lake Forest Youth Pastor Suspected in Multiple Rapes
Pastor Convicted of Molesting 5 Young Boys From His Congregation

OCDA booking Photo