Pastor had sex with 'possessed' teen for months, deputies say

NEW PORT RICHEY (FOX 13) - A Pasco County pastor is accused of forcing a 17-year-old girl into a series of sexual encounters by telling her she has multiple personalities, one of which was possessed by a demon that he could help pray away.

Gerardo Martinez, 52, was arrested last week and charged with multiple counts of sexual battery.

"It's pretty heinous. It is graphic the way everything happened," said Sgt. Jason Hatcher with the Pasco County Sheriff's Office.

According to investigators, the "graphic" encounters occurred between April and October 2017. The teenager told deputies about what happened in December.

Detectives said the sexual acts took place at the church, at the victim's home while her parents were gone, and in Martinez's car while it was parked in a Publix grocery store parking lot.

"People put their trust in someone like a pastor. It's something that, as a parent and a child, they don't expect something like this to happen," Hatcher said. "It's kind of obvious, it looks like he was grooming her. So it's just a horrible situation."

FOX 13 stopped by Martinez's home in New Port Richey where, according to neighbors, he lives with his wife and a child. Although Martinez has posted bond and is out of jail, he did not come to the door when a FOX 13 crew knocked.

Darlene Starrette, one of Martinez's neighbors, said she didn't know Martinez and feels terrible for the teenager.

"She needs trauma counseling and she needs a lot of support and people to believe her and to talk to her," Starrette said. "Just like any physical trauma where you'd go to the emergency room, she needs an emotional emergency room right now."

The teenager's home is in Tarpon Springs, so more charges could be coming from the Tarpon Springs Police Department.

The Pasco County Sheriff's Office is looking into whether there are any other victims who have not yet come forward.