A Georgia pastor was arrested on charges that he sexually assaulted three women in Multnomah County over a six-year span when he lived in or visited the area.

Helio S. Ferreira, 41, was indicted Dec. 20 on charges of rape, sodomy, sexual abuse, kidnapping and identity theft. The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office and Portland police announced his arrest Tuesday. He remains held without bail in a Georgia county jail awaiting extradition to Oregon.

Ferreira, a Seventh-day Adventist pastor, previously resided in Washington County and returned frequently to the Portland area, according to public documents. The church’s online directory lists him as the head pastor of a congregation in Valdosta, a city of 56,000 people in southern Georgia.

The congregation regularly posts videos of his sermons online. The last videos were published Dec. 1. He was arrested two days later after detectives obtained an arrest warrant in Multnomah County.

A grand jury later issued its nine-count indictment against Ferreira after hearing from 18 witnesses, including the three women who said he assaulted them. The indictment says DNA evidence connects Ferreira to the alleged assaults.

Brent Weisberg, a spokesman for the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office, said he could not disclose any information about the case or whether Ferreira knew any of the alleged victims through his church posts.

The indictment says Ferreira sexually assaulted the first woman in November 2012. The woman could not consent because she was physically helpless or mentally incapacitated at the time of the assault, according to the indictment.

The indictment alleges Ferreira kidnapped and raped two different women: in September 2016 and in September 2018. The indictment also accuses him of stealing the second woman’s identity.

Ferreira sometimes preached at a Seventh-day Adventist church in Northeast Portland. A weekly bulletin says he delivered the sermon on Sept. 10, 2016. His message was titled, “Defeating our enemies.”

The grand jury indicted Ferreira on charges that he kidnapped and raped a woman eight days later.

Ferreira also has preached or played piano at churches in Beaverton and Boring, according to bulletins or videos from the services posted online. He offered music lessons as recently as the 2017-2018 school year to students of a Hillsboro Seventh-day Adventist school.

He has lived in Beaverton, Hillsboro and Forest Grove, according to court records. He has no prior criminal convictions in Oregon.

It is unclear when he will be returned to face the current criminal charges. A person who answered the phone at the jail where he is being held said no one would be available to discuss the case until after the New Years’ holiday.

Portland police detectives are still investigating Ferreira and asked anyone with information to call Detective Ross Dormady at 503-823-0880.

-- Molly Young

myoung@oregonian.com