Former Tampa Church Pastor Charged With Sexually Abusing 3 Girls

TAMPA, FL — An 81-year-old Tampa pastor was arrested Friday following an investigation in which he was accused of sexually abusing three girls under the age of 12.

According to Tampa police, Jesus Manuel Castellano-Mojica of West Iowa Avenue in Tampa, was charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious molestation and two counts of sexual battery.

The Department of Children and Families received a report Feb. 14 that a 7-year-old may have been sexually abused, and the case was assigned to the Tampa police Special Victims Unit.

During the investigation, detectives found two other girls who said Castellano-Mojica sexually abused including a 28-year-old woman who said she was abused by Castellano-Mojica when she was 11 years old.

Castellano-Mojica was a pastor at Grace Church of the Nazarene at 3706 W Wyoming Ave. in Tampa, but currently works as a greeter at Walmart.

He remains in jail on $200,000 bail.