LAKE FOREST – A 38-year-old youth pastor was arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting several women ranging from their late teens to early 20s, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said Saturday.

Sean Patrick Aday of Lake Forest was arrested on suspicion of rape, sodomy, penetration with a foreign object and sexual assault, following a traffic stop on Friday, said sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Hallock. He was booked into Orange County Jail and released Saturday morning on $500,000 bail.

Aday couldn’t be reached for comment by phone Saturday afternoon.

The probe began last month, when a woman told authorities that she was sexually assaulted by Aday while he was working as a youth pastor at Grace Community Church in Lake Forest, Hallock said. Aday was fired last month.

Shortly after the woman came forward, several other women allege that Aday had assaulted them inside the church, on church property and during church-sponsored overseas trips to Costa Rica, Moldova and South Africa, Hallock said. All the women were either parishioners or volunteers at Grace Community.

Investigators said they believe there may be additional victims.

“It is with great horror today that we have heard of the crimes that former employee Sean Aday has been charged with against those entrusted to our care at Grace Community Church,” a church spokesman said in a statement.

Contact the writer: 714-704-3769 or amarroquin@ocregister.com