VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – A man accused of inappropriate behavior with two girls, while he was a pastor at their church in Sanford, is now facing new charges in Volusia County, court records show.
Friday, Yersson Solarte Basto faced a judge from the jail, where he is being held without bond on five counts of sexual battery.
A report from the Volusia Sheriff’s Office reveals deputies started investigating Solarte Basto in April, after they learned he had been allegedly sexually abusing a teen at IPUL Pentecostal Church in Sanford.
The victim told her parents that she and Yersson had been in a relationship since January, and he had spent the previous year and half, grooming her through his position as her pastor, the report states.
She also told investigators Yersson “coerced her into having sex” numerous times at his home in Debary and at their church in Sanford, according to the report.
Solarte Basto was first arrested by Sanford Police in May on charges of sexual battery and lewd and lascivious molestation. Police said he had engaged in appropriate contact and sexually touched and/or assaulted two girls.
“People like this are a special class of criminal, who use their position of trust to prey on innocent victims. Solarte is now behind bars where he belongs,” Sanford police Chief Cecil Smith said in a statement.