TARRANT COUNTY, Texas -- Jury selection is slated to begin Monday in Texas for the trial of Georinmo Aguilar, the former pastor at The Richmond Outreach Center (ROC) church in Richmond who was accused of sexually assaulting two sisters in the 1990s. While hundreds of people are on the witness list for the trial, which could last two weeks, supporters are standing by the man known as “Pastor G.”
For Shawanda Allen, who worshiped at The ROC, the allegations are still hard to believe.
"Pastor G of all people he was like the nicest person I ever met,” Allen said. “It shocked me.”
For the last two years Allen and others have waited for the trial which will see Aguilar tried for 12 counts of sexual abuse. Prosecutors allege Aguilar had sex with an 11 and 13-year-old girl repeatedly -- including in church vans -- when he was living with them as a minister near Fort Worth in the 1990s.
In a 2013 interview,Aguilar denied the allegations and claimed he was innocent. He said he wished “people would wait until they hear all the facts."
Todd Stone, a legal analyst for WTVR CBS 6, said Aguilar’s lawyers will try to plant doubt in the jury's mind and convince them the alleged victims memories may be wrong.
“The defense is going to try to poke as many holes as they can," Stone said. "These are very, very serious sex offenses.”
However, Stone said prosecutors appeared to have as many as hundred witnesses willing to back up the accusers’ accounts. In fact, arrest warrants claimed the girl’s parents once caught Aguilar in the act.
“They’re going to have to build a case based on the testimony of the two complaints and support it with other testimony, for instance if somebody walked in and saw something,” Stone added.
Aguilar could face the rest of his life behind bars if convicted. But for Aguilar's supporters, their faith remains steadfast.
“I don't think he would do a thing like that," Allen said. "He's a great man.”
Some potential witnesses attended The ROC. ROC leaders announced Friday they were changing the church's name to Celebration Church.
Stay with WTVR.com and watch CBS 6 News for continuing coverage of this story.
