Hawaii

Former OC Church Assistant Convicted of Molesting Girls He Met Through Congregation

A former church assistant was convicted Monday of molesting two girls under the age of 14 after he befriended their families through the church, the Orange County District Attorney's office said.

Branden Edward Shumate, 37, of Hawaii, was found guilty of three felony counts of lewd acts upon multiple victims, prosecutors said in a news release.

Between Sept. 13, 1997 and Sept. 12, 1998, Shumate, then 18 years old, worked as an assistant in a Lake Forest church where his father was a pastor and leader. During that time, prosecutors said, he organized a trip to a water park in Irvine for members of the church.

During that trip, Shumate digitally penetrated a 6-year-old girl after she had fallen asleep while waiting for other children attending the trip to arrive, prosecutors said.

Shumate remained in contact with the girl's family for five years, prosecutors said, and he molested her again when she was 12 years old. When Shumate tried to contact her again in 2006, she told family members about the incidents, prosecutors said.

Shumate then moved to Hawaii with his family.

In August 2010, Shumate attempted to engage in a sexually explicit conversation with a 10-year-old girl, prosecutors said.

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In between 2010 and 2011, Shumate sexually assaulted the girl while she was drying off from a shower at her house, prosecutors said. The girl told her mother about the incident after her family moved to Alaska.

Prosecutors said Shumate was arrested in 2011 in Hawaii and was extradited back to Orange County.

Shumate faces a maximum sentence of 45 years to life in state prison and a mandatory lifetime sex offender registration.

He is scheduled to appear at West Justice Center in Westminster on March 25.

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