Cuban pastor charged with raping teen

ROCHESTER, NY - A former clergyman from a suburban Rochester church was sent to prison on Thursday for raping and impregnating a teenaged girl in his congregation.

Eddy Mijares, 41, a former elder in a Greece church was sentenced to spend 4 2/3 to 14 years behind bars. Mijares was an elder and co-pastor of the Covenant Presbyterian Church.

The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports that Mijares fled Cuba in 1994 on a raft and became a U.S. citizen in 2000. He apparently befriended the girl’s family, also Cuban refugees, at his church.

A 20-count indictment alleged that he began having sex with the girl when she was 13. Mijares fled to Venezuela but U.S. authorities worked with the government of Venezuela to return him to the states in January of this year.