A Santa Ana pastor has been sentenced to 45 years to life in prison for sexually assaulting three young girls.

Carlos Ramirez Valdez, 61, was convicted of 14 counts related to the child sexual abuse cases that happened while he was the leader of Iglesia De Dios Ebenezer Church between 2012 and 2019. He became a pastor at another Santa Ana church after the assaults. 

“Churches should be safe sanctuaries, not hunting grounds for child molesters,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said. “These young girls were subjected to unimaginable abuse by someone in a position of trust. The sexual exploitation of children will never be acceptable, and predators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Valdez allegedly sexually assaulted three girls, between the ages of 4 and 10, who attended masses at Iglesia De Dios Ebenezer Church. 

Prosecutors said he sexually assaulted one of the girls over a seven-year period, beginning when she was four years old. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office said she reported the abuse to a school counselor. In 2017, Valdez also repeatedly sexually abused a 7-year-old girl over an eight-month period. 

The third case happened between 2014 and 2015. The girl told the Garden Grove Police Department that he sexually assaulted her while he drove her home from church.Â