Former National Evangelical Association of Belize president, Pastor Victor Wagner Hernandez, has been sentenced 10 years in piison after he was found guilty of repeadely sexually avusing a woman who had turned to him for counsel.
High Court judge, Justice Antoinette Moore, imposed the sentence on the 67year-old pastor after he was found guilty of two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault. The Court heard that the offences occurred in 2015, 2016, and 2021 while Hernandez served at the Toledo Faith Outreach Christian Center in Punta Gorda.
Pastor Victor Wagner Hernandez (File Photo)
The case began after the 35-year-old woman came forward with a complaint in 2024 and during the trial gave an emotional testimony saying also that she had been threatened before reporting the abuse.
Justice Moore found her account credible and ultimately convicted Hernandez on all three charges.
In passing sentence, the court took several aggravating factors included the abuse of religious trust and the presence of the woman’s teenage daughter during the assault. In mitigation, the court considered his lack of prior convictions, his age and medical conditions including a stroke, hypertension and Type II diabetes.