Crime & Safety
Pastor Pleads Not Guilty to Sex With Minor
Matthias Anderson, 41, is being held on $1-million bail at the Southwest Detention Center.
A former Marine and founder of an Oceanside church, who is accused of having a two-year sexual relationship with a preteen Murrieta girl, pleaded not guilty today to statutory rape and other felony charges.
Matthias Anderson, 41, of Hemet is charged with 25 counts of lewd acts on a child, seven counts of unlawful sexual intercourse and one count each of sexual penetration with a foreign object and oral copulation of a minor.
Anderson appeared before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Angel Bermudez, who set a bail review hearing for Nov. 15. The defendant, who was arrested last Tuesday, is in custody in lieu of $1 million bail at the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta.
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According to Murrieta police, the victim and her mother are members of New Wine Ministries International, which Anderson started in 2002 while stationed at Camp Pendleton. He has since retired from the Marine Corps and now ministers full-time, according to Murrieta police Sgt. Phil Gomez.
The girl and her mother, whose names were withheld, came forward recently with allegations that the pastor had been molesting the youngster since 2009, the sergeant said.
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"The sexual relationship ... occurred multiple times in both Riverside and San Diego counties," Gomez alleged.
Anderson would pick the girl up at her house on Walsh Center Drive and take her to another location, Gomez said.
a Murrieta police detective alleged in a statement.
Murrieta police officers were waiting to arrest him, according to Gomez.
"Based on the investigation, detectives believe there is a possibility of additional victims in the Oceanside area," he said.
Anyone with information was encouraged to call the Murrieta Police Department at 951-696-3615.
