Church officials knew about alleged affair. Now a pastor faces criminal charges

Editors Note: Charges were dismissed in this case and the case was expunged on Dec. 10, 2018, per court records provided by Eduardo Cornejo.

Officials at Columbia First Seventh-day Adventist church knew about their pastor’s relationship with a woman who now claims he assaulted her, but they never felt the need to contact police, a church spokeswoman said.

Though the woman didn’t come forward with claims of sexual assault until February, church officials found out about an alleged sexual encounter between former Pastor Eduardo Elias Cornejo, 34, and the victim in August, Carolina Conference of Seventh-day Adventists spokeswoman Rebecca Carpenter said.

It is unclear whether church officials knew if the alleged sexual encounter was consensual when they took action to remove Cornejo from his flock. Church officials declined to comment on when they found out about the possible illegal activity, citing an ongoing Lexington Police investigation.

Carpenter said, at the time, church officials felt there was no reason to contact police.

“As far as the knowledge we have, we didn’t think it was necessary to contact any authorities,” Carpenter said. “... The police were notified of whatever the victim decided to notify them.”

Instead, the church conference fired Cornejo, a married man, for an extramarital affair, Carpenter said.

“The Adventist Church does not condone any immoral sexual behavior, so we took action on that immediately as soon as we found out about that,” Carpenter said.

A few months later, the former pastor was arrested and charged with criminal sexual conduct in connection with an alleged January 2017 sexual encounter that got him fired.

Police spokesman Corp. Cameron Mortenson said if anyone had knowledge of a sexual assault but didn’t say anything, he or she could face legal trouble.

“If a victim had come forward and the victim was not being taken seriously for what he or she said, there could be issues with that,” Mortenson said. “Certainly on a civil side, if not criminal.”

Mortenson said the investigation into the pastor didn’t begin until the victim came forward in February and claimed Cornejo used persuasion and physical force to have sex with her.

Police knew Cornejo had been fired in August for “an indiscretion,” thanks to a letter sent out by the Carolina Conference. The letter never piqued police interest, and Mortenson said it was explained to the congregation that the relationship was consensual.

“On a wider scale, when pastors separate from a church for what would be deemed a moral indiscretion, typically, law enforcement wouldn’t dive in to see what that was,” Mortenson said.

On Aug. 9, the Carolina Conference sent out a letter to the congregation of Columbia First that asked members not to attempt to speak to Pastor Cornejo, not to attempt to find anything else out about the case and not to make comments on social media. The letter, which was obtained by The State, says those seeking information could create “serious legal implications.”

Carpenter said those legal implications were “unrelated to anything he has been charged with at this point,” and is a standard practice to caution the congregation when anyone is fired from the church.

On April 12, the day Cornejo turned himself in to police, the Carolina Conference sent a letter to the congregation informing them of the criminal charges. In the letter, Pastor Jason Belyeu again asked members of the congregation not to seek any more details, not to speak to Cornejo’s family and not to make public comments about the issue.

The letter also told church members not to speak with members of the media, asking them to refer reporters to Carpenter, their spokeswoman.

Police believe there could be more victims who haven’t yet come forward, according to a statement sent out after Cornejo’s arrest. Investigators say he may have used his position as a pastor to coerce other women to have sex with him.

Cornejo, who is from Columbia, has never faced criminal charges in Lexington or Richland counties before this investigation, according to court records.

No date has been set for Cornejo’s trial as of late April.

This story was originally published April 26, 2018 at 8:14 AM with the headline "Church officials knew about alleged affair. Now a pastor faces criminal charges."