A former youth pastor in Wildomar has been sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to accusations that he sexually assaulted teenage girls.

Malo “Victor” Monteiro, 45, pleaded guilty at Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta on Tuesday, Nov. 13, to four counts of lewd acts on a child of 14-15 years of age with the defendant at least 10 years older, two counts of sexual penetration with a foreign object and one count of attempted copulation of a minor, all felonies.

Monteiro, of Colton, made a plea agreement with the court. He signed a form in which the judge agreed he would be sentenced to five years and four months in prison. He received that sentence, with a credit of 164 days time served. Superior Court Judge Kelly L. Hansen assessed Monteiro roughly $3,000 in fines and restitution.

Before the sentencing, victims and former Faith Baptist Church congregants Rachel Peach, Lea Ramirez and April Avila — who all had previously told their stories publicly — made victim-impact statements.

Peach, who has sued the church, said in the lawsuit that her relationship with Monteiro started in the fall of 2007, when she was 15, and it advanced to sexual intercourse in the summer of 2008.

Ramirez has said she never had sexual intercourse with Monteiro, but she added that he would make her feel guilty when she refused. Ramirez said she left the church when she was 15 because of him.

Avila had said she was 14 when Monteiro began grooming her for sexual abuse with horseplay that turned intimate. She said Monteiro told her that it would damage her reputation if she reported the abuse.

In September 2013, Monteiro left Faith Baptist Church to start a new church, Menifee Baptist Church. Monteiro served as assistant pastor there until October 2016, when he abruptly left the church for undisclosed reasons, said the head pastor, Pat Cook.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department began its investigation in June 2018. Monteiro was arrested July 27.