Ex-Stockton police chaplain arrested after girls report molestations

May 24--STOCKTON -- Authorities have arrested a former Stockton Police Department chaplain on suspicion of molesting two girls from his church, the department announced Wednesday.

Bruce Echavarre, 57, was arrested on May 16 on suspicion of child molestation, Stockton police reported. The incident involved two girls, ages 12 and 15, who on May 14 reported that Echavarre had molested them.

Police said Echavarre was the girls' church pastor.

Echavarre had also been a volunteer Stockton Police Department chaplain from October 2014 to the day of his arrest, when he was immediately terminated, said Senior Chaplain Jesse Kenyon.

His duty as a chaplain was mostly going on ride-alongs with patrol officers to offer them support, Kenyon said.

"I was very shocked," he said of learning of Echavarre's arrest. "It took me by surprise."

Kenyon said he's also angry and disappointed because the allegations are not what being a chaplain and pastor stand for.

Stockton police said Echavarre is a pastor at the United Church of the Living Godon Thornton Road in Stockton. On Wednesday, phone calls to several telephone numbers associated with the church were disconnected or no longer in service.

The San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office is charging Echavarre with two counts of continuous sexual abuse of a child and three counts of lewd acts upon a child, all felonies.

According to court documents, Echavarre allegedly molested the 12-year-old girl beginning on or about August 2013 until May of this year, and the 15-year-old girl beginning on or about April 2015 also until May.

A criminal protective order has been issued forbidding Echavarre from contacting the victims in person or by any other means.

Echavarre is in the San Joaquin County Jail with his bail set at $2 million. He is scheduled to appear in court for further arraignment at 8:30 a.m. Friday at San Joaquin County Superior Court.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Police Department at (209) 937-8377, the Investigations Unit at (209) 937-8323 or Crime Stoppers at (209) 946-0600. Crime Stoppers pays cash rewards up to $10,000.

Cellphone users can text information to 274637 (CRIMES) by entering the keyword "TIPSPD" followed by their tip. Internet users can visit the Police Department's Facebook page and click "Submit a Tip."

Contact reporter Almendra Carpizo at (209) 546-8264 or acarpizo@recordnet.com. Follow her on Twitter @AlmendraCarpizo.

___

(c)2018 The Record (Stockton, Calif.)

Visit The Record (Stockton, Calif.) at www.recordnet.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.