Man ‘asked for forgiveness’ after molesting children he met at church, Texas cops say

A man in Texas was arrested on Tuesday after police say he molested seven children, a number of whom he met through church.

Police in San Antonio began investigating Joshua Alvarez, 21, back in October when they were contacted about a “sexual offense” against two 4-year-old boys, KSAT reported.

Not long after, police say Alvarez met with parents of five other children and “confessed to them that he touched their children inappropriately and asked for forgiveness,” according to the news outlet.

Between Oct. 19 and Nov. 27, six boys and one girl said Alvarez had touched them inappropriately or performed sex acts on them between 2012 and 2019, the San Antonio Express-News reported. The children were between ages 3 and 10 at the times of the alleged offenses, court documents say, according to the Express-News.

Alvarez is accused of meeting five of the children through church, WOAI reported. A congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses told the outlet he attended services at their Kingdom Hal in San Antonio.

Representatives from the Jehovah’s Witness national headquarters told WOAI that Alvarez is no longer a Jehovah’s Witness, decrying “child sexual abuse as an especially repugnant wicked deed.”

Alvarez faces charges of continuous sexual abuse of a child and was released on $75,000 bond, according to court documents.

This story was originally published December 5, 2019 at 6:14 AM with the headline "Man ‘asked for forgiveness’ after molesting children he met at church, Texas cops say."