05/09/2002

By TERESA BELL and PAT DOORIS, KGW Staff

A 77-year old practicing minister at an Oregon church is accused of sodomizing and sexually abusing young members of his congregation last year in the Gaston area.

Yamhill County Sheriff's Deputies arrested Alfredo Hinojosa Soto on Wednesday and charged him with three counts of Sodomy In The First Degree and seven counts of Sexual Abuse In The First Degree.

Prosecutors said all 10 charges are Measure 11 crimes carrying strict mandatory sentences under Oregon law.

Alfredo Soto's police mugshot. (KGW Photo)

Soto appeared via closed circuit television from the county jail for a court arraignment Thursday afternoon, where a judge set his bail at $100,000.

Investigators said the alleged victims were two girls under the age of ten who knew Soto through the New Jeruselum Pentacostal Church in Cornelius, where he is the minister. Police said the abuse occurred during June of 2001.

During his arraignment, prosecutors said the police investigation of Soto was continuing and additional charges against the minister were possible.