A Stark County pastor is facing multiple charges, including kidnapping and sexual abuse, after allegedly taking a 14-year-old girl against her will and engaging in sexual contact with her during a camping trip in Ashland County last year.
The Rev. Jesse Santos, 59, of Lake Township, serves as pastor of the Canton Seventh-day Adventist Church in Plain Township. He was arrested Feb. 15 by Stark County sheriff’s deputies and held in the county jail before being transferred to Ashland County, where the charges originated.
Santos has been charged with kidnapping, a first-degree felony; two counts of gross sexual imposition, a fourth-degree felony; sexual imposition, a third-degree misdemeanor; and endangering children, a first-degree misdemeanor. The alleged incidents occurred on Sept. 17 and 18, 2023, while Santos and the victim were camping.
During a Tuesday arraignment in Ashland County Common Pleas Court, Magistrate Emily Bates set a surety bond at $250,000. If released, Santos must wear an electronic monitoring device, avoid contact with the alleged victim and her family, abstain from drugs and alcohol, and adhere to a court-imposed curfew.
Ashland County Assistant District Attorney Matthew Metcalf told the court that DNA evidence supports the allegations.
A jury trial is scheduled for May 20.
