14°
"This table was created as a research tool to discover the scope of sexual abuse of children within the Sothern[sic] Baptist Convention," the 205-page report released last week reads.
The Connecticut ministers on the list include:
- Eli Echevarria: In 2016, he was allowed to continue leading his church as pastor of El Calvario Baptist Church in New Haven for five years while on the state sex offender registry after a child-molestation conviction. He was arrested in 2014 on child pornography charges and stepped down before being sentenced to two years in prison. Echevarria also attended First Baptist Church in Branford (New Haven County), which is associated with the American Baptist Churches of Connecticut.
- David Esarey: A youth minister in Fairfield County at Stepney Baptist Church in Monroe was convicted in 2008 of sexually assaulting and sending naked photos to a 15-year-old girl he was counseling in 2008. He served six years in prison.
- Lucia Farley: A former associate minister in Fairfield County at the Messiah Baptist Church in Bridgeport and former youth minister, at the Beacon Hill Evangelist Free Church in Monroe, was convicted of abusing a 14-year-old girl in 2000.
- James J. McCoy: A youth group pastor in Hartford County at Central Baptist Church in Southington was convicted on two counts of fourth-degree sexual assault in 2009. He was sentenced to two years in jail, suspended after 60 days probation for three years.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Ridgefield and receive free news updates.
