The Victory Christian Center is evaluating the policy on reporting child abuse.
A statement released on Tuesday afternoon commented on charges filed against Israel Castillo on Monday afternoon:
"A former employee of Victory Christian Center, Israel Castillo, was charged yesterday with lewd or indecent proposal to a child and use of a computer to facilitate a sex crime.
In the course of investigating allegations of a rape at the Victory Christian Center campus, our staff discovered that Castillo was inappropriately communicating with a member of the church’s youth group. This employee was fired along with Chris Denman on Aug. 24. Police reports on both incidents were completed on Aug. 30."
Denman is charged with first degree rape of a victim under 14, forcible oral sodomy, lewd molestation and the use of a computer to facilitate a sex crime. The alleged incident happened at day camp at the Victory Christian Center in August.
The statement also says both Denman and Castillo passed a screening process that included personal references and a nationwide background check and no history of criminal activity was found.
In the statement Victory Christian Center also commented on the recent misdemeanor failure to report charges filed against staff members:
The staff members involved in the internal investigation of Denman and Castillo were charged on Monday with failure to report abuse or neglect of a child under 18. Their response was not in accordance with the church’s written policy on reporting suspected child abuse to the Department of Human Services.
The statement concluded by saying VCC is working with DHS to revise their evaluation process and will also perform a full review of our policies to ensure the safety of 'our children and youth.'
