Sergio Quintanilla Charged With Molesting Boy He Met Through Kingdom Hall Of Jehovah's Witness In La Puente
LA PUENTE (CBSLA) — A man who was a regular member of the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witness in La Puente until just recently has been arrested on suspicion of molesting a child whose family attended the church.
Sergio Quintanilla, 44, was arrested Aug. 23 near his home in La Puente. He has since been charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child and sodomy of a person under 14 years old, both felonies. Quintanilla is being held on $450,000 bail and is scheduled to make his next court appearance on Sept. 22.
According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, investigators became aware of Quintanilla when a man reported he had been molested in 2001 when he was about 8 or 9 years old by a family friend he knew through the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witness church campus in La Puente. The victim told investigators the man sexually molested him over the course of six to eight months after gaining his family's trust.
Quintanilla was an active member of that church until recently, and his participation in the church gave him access to youth and youth activities, authorities said.
Investigators say they believe Quintanilla may have more victims. Anyone with information about Quintanilla or believes they may be a victim can call the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Special Victims Bureau at (877) 710-5273 or via email at specialvictimsbureau@lasd.org.
