Former Evangelical Leader Convicted; Church Accountability in Focus

A case involving one of Belize’s former evangelical leaders has ended in conviction, putting renewed focus on accountability within faith-based institutions. High Court Justice Antoinette Moore this week found sixty-seven-year-old Pastor Victor Hernandez, former head of the National Evangelical Association of Belize, guilty of serious sexual offences stemming from a 2024 complaint made by a thirty-five-year-old woman. In court, the complainant became emotional as she testified that she had been threatened before filing the report. Today, Church Senator Louis Wade was asked to respond to the conviction.

 

Louis Wade, Church Senator

“I am very saddened by the entire saga. No pastor should find themselves in a position where they have to be defending themselves against a congregant, something has gone wrong from the very beginning and I place no fault on the victim. We are the leaders, the pastor, the shepherds, we have a responsibility to conduct ourselves whether in public or private, in the highest moral and ethical conduct. Walls were clearly broken down that enabled this terrible activity to occur. We are no longer at a point where we need to ask ourselves did it really happen. The courts of Belize has made a decision that two counts of rape and a count of sexual assault occurred against that pastor. We love that pastor and will continue to pray for him. He was a leader in one of the organization. But the laws of Belize nor the laws of God does not exempt anyone from violating any other human being. So we forgive, we pray for both victim and the perpetrator, but justice must be served.”

 

The complainant was reportedly a member of Hernandez’s church congregation.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

Watch the full newscast here: