Bay Area minister arrested in teen sex assault

MARTINEZ — Police in Northern California say a minister has been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a teen girl over a three-year period.

Martinez Police spokesman Aaron Roth tells San Francisco television station KRON 32-year-old Fernando Maldonado, of Concord, was arrested last week on numerous counts of sexual assault charges, including unlawful intercourse with a juvenile younger than 14.

Police arrested Maldonado four days after the girl went to police to report the abuse she said started in 2013.

Maldonado used to work at Morello Baptist Church in Martinez. He later became a minister for the Grace Bible Church in Pleasant Hill.

He is being held on $725,000 bail.