California Pastor John McFarland Allegedly Molested 7 Children, Faces 179-Year Prison Term

The head pastor of a church in Fullerton, California, was arrested Thursday after being accused of molesting seven children, aged between five and 15 years.

According to a press release from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, John Rodgers McFarland, 67, who was serving as the head pastor at Orangethorpe United Methodist Church in Fullerton since 2014, was charged with seven felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor under the age of 14, and four felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor between the ages of 14 and 15.

Authorities said the alleged offenses happened between 2003 and 2017. It was not revealed if the suspect met the underage victims in the churches he worked for.

McFarland was born in the North San Diego County, where he was affiliated with San Marcos United Methodist Church. After graduating from the University of La Verne in 1974 and attending the Pacific School of Religion in 1978, the accused went on to work for a number of churches in San Diego County and Orange County, ABC-affiliated 10News reported.

“McFarland was a pastor at Surf City Church in Huntington Beach between 2011 and 2016, and served as senior pastor at Fountain Valley United Methodist Church for 26 years from 1988 to 2016. He served as a youth pastor at the San Dieguito Methodist Church in Encinitas from 1978 to 1981 and attended Christian Youth Camps during his ministry there. McFarland’s first appointment as senior pastor was at Calexico United Methodist Church in Calexico, where he served from 1981 to 1988,” the press release stated.

The accused also served as a volunteer chaplain for Fountain Valley police and firefighters. Orangethorpe church officials refused to comment on the current status of McFarland.

In December, he was arrested in San Diego County, and charged with molesting a girl younger than 14 in Escondido between 2012 and 2013. Lt. Chris Lick of the Escondido Police Department said the alleged molestation took place when McFarland was visiting his relatives. During the investigation of the isolated case, authorities found “evidence that McFarland abused other victims.” The status of the case was not immediately known.

On Monday, the accused appeared before the court regarding charges filed in Orange County and pleaded not guilty to the allegations. He was being held on $2 million bail at the Orange County Jail and faced a maximum sentence of 179 years to life if convicted on all counts. He was scheduled to be back in the court June 20.

In April, a former youth pastor was arrested after he allegedly threatened to call immigration authorities on a young girl’s family, unless she agreed to have sex with him. Luis Clarke, 38, who served as a part-time youth pastor of Abrazo tu Sueno Church in Pembroke Pines, Florida, until the church closed in 2018, was accused of sexually assaulting a minor from August 2016, when she was 15-years-old, to February 2017.