IL Pastor Found Guilty Of Five Felony Child Sex Charges

Religion News Service reports:

Mark Rivera, a former lay pastor at the center of several sexual abuse allegations in a conservative Anglican denomination, was found guilty of five counts of felony child sexual abuse and assault on Thursday morning.

Judge John Barsanti of Illinois’ 16th Judicial Circuit Court in Kane County found Rivera guilty of two counts of predatory sexual assault of a victim under 13 years old (a Class X felony) and three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a victim under 13 (a Class 2 felony).

Rivera served in the Anglican Church in North America in Big Rock, Illinois. The Anglican Church in North America formed in 2009 after splitting from the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada over the two denominations’ acceptance of LGBTQ clergy and same-sex marriage.

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BREAKING: Mark Rivera, a former lay pastor at the center of alleged mishandling of sex abuse in @The_ACNA, has been found guilty of 5 counts of felony child sexual abuse and assault.

Victim’s mother hopes this is “first step of many towards justice”https://t.co/FXMZiPhDG5

— Julie Roys (@reachjulieroys) December 15, 2022