Judge denies motion to dismiss charges against former Victory Christian janitor
BY JARREL WADE World Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
1/22/13 at 12:39 PM
A Tulsa judge denied a motion on Tuesday to dismiss charges against a former Victory Christian Center staff member accused of making a lewd or indecent proposal to a 14-year-old girl.
Israel Shalom Castillo, 23, has pleaded not guilty, and the case may now go to jury trial.
Tulsa County District Judge William Kellough postponed district court arraignment until February 1.
The lewd or indecent proposal charge involves a 14-year-old girl Castillo met through the church.
Castillo and Chris Denman, both Victory Christian Center members who worked as janitors for the church, were charged in September with separate child-sex crimes.
Denman, 20, pleaded guilty last year to six felony sex crimes against children, including the rape of the 13-year-old. He was sentenced to 55 years in prison and five years of probation.
Five Victory Christian staff members, including John and Charica Daugherty, a son and daughter-in-law of Senior Pastor Sharon Daugherty, have pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges of failing to report child abuse.
Other staff members accused of not reporting the alleged crime are Paul Howard Willemstein, Anna Alisa George and Harold Frank Sullivan.
On Tuesday, Castillo's attorney argued for his motion to dismiss saying the state had not proved through evidence that Castillo "knowingly and intentionally" had communication with a person under the age of 16.
"You can't hold someone liable for breaking the law if they had no way of knowing if they were breaking the law," said Tulsa attorney Hugh Hood.
Kellough cited a previous hearing in which the alleged victim was present and said the judge in that case noted the 14-year-old girl appeared to him to look underage.
Associated Images:
Israel Shalom Castillo, 23, has pleaded not guilty, and the case may now go to jury trial.
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