South Bay church volunteer arraigned on 30 counts of child abuse

Gregory Helfrich, a 54-year-old resident of Los Altos Hills, was arraigned Wednesday on charges of child molestation and possession of child pornography. Gregory Helfrich, a 54-year-old resident of Los Altos Hills, was arraigned Wednesday on charges of child molestation and possession of child pornography. Photo: Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office Photo: Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close South Bay church volunteer arraigned on 30 counts of child abuse 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A 54-year-old Bay Area man who volunteered for a local church’s youth group was arraigned Wednesday on 30 charges of child molestation and possession of child pornography, officials said.

All of the charges pertain to one victim, a man now in his late 20s, who recently came forward with allegations that he was sexually abused and shown child pornography between the ages of 5 and 12 by the defendant, Gregory Helfrich, of Los Altos Hills. The victim is a relative of Helfrich, authorities said.

Last week, Santa Clara County sheriff’s detectives served a search warrant on the suspect’s house and found printed images depicting child pornography in his bedroom, along with child pornography in his Internet searches and on bookmarked websites, according to Sgt. James Jensen, a department spokesman. Helfrich was arrested and was being held in jail Wednesday on $3,325,000 bail.

The suspect volunteered for the Abundant Life Christian Fellowship’s “SAFARI kids” program in Mountain View beginning in 2012, according to Lindsay Walsh, a Santa Clara County deputy district attorney. The program involves children in second through fifth grade.

“We have evidence that his preference is 8- to 12-year-old boys,” Walsh said. “And we suspect that there are more victims.”

Helfrich was ordered to return to court June 21 to enter a plea.

Anyone with information about the case or additional potential victims can contact Detective Jennifer Toomey at (408) 808-4500.

Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov