The man who pastored a San Diego church with his porn star wife has pleaded guilty to raping his younger sister, according to a statement by the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office.
Stephen Dela Cruz, who pastored Living Faith Church with his porn star wife, Angela Dela Cruz, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to eight felonies, the district attorney said. The felonies included three counts of forcible rape, three counts of forcible oral copulation, and two counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object, the district attorney added.
Stephen Dela Cruz, who’s now 37, was 14 and 15 years old at the time of the crimes, authorities say. The crimes reportedly involved Dela Cruz’s sister, Samantha, who in 2019, walked into the Oxnard Police Department and told police she was eight years old when her brother raped her.
“Samantha was incredibly brave, courageous and just never gave up,” said District Attorney Erik Nasarenko. “Despite multiple setbacks and delays, she kept fighting for justice and to have her voice heard in court.”
Despite being a juvenile when the crimes were committed, the case was transferred to adult court because the crimes “involved significant sophistication and planning and were especially violent and severe,” the district attorney’s office stated. Authorities said Dela Cruz threatened to kill his sister if she ever disclosed his crimes and often displayed a knife before the assaults, which occurred in 2001 and 2002.
Your tax-deductible gift helps our journalists report the truth and hold Christian leaders and organizations accountable. Donate $75 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you can elect to receive the “Reimagine Church” 2-Book Bundle including ‘Invisible Jesus’ by Scot McKnight & Tommy Phillips and ‘Need to Know’ edited by Danielle Strickland. To donate, click here.
In addition to pleading guilty to the crimes, Dela Cruz also waived his right to appeal.
“This is a day that I thought may never come, and I am thankful that this violent criminal will no longer be a threat to our community,” Samantha said.
As The Roys Report (TRR) previously reported, Stephen Dela Cruz and his wife, Angela Dela Cruz, launched Living Faith Church in 2021, advertising it as “a church for sinners by sinners.”
On social media, the couple openly talked about Angela’s involvement in adult entertainment, saying on Instagram, “Where else will you find an adult actress who is also a pastor?!”
The church’s Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube accounts were active at time of publishing. However, the church’s website appears to be gone and the most recent message on YouTube is from January.
Stephen Dela Cruz is scheduled for sentencing on June 27. The district attorney said he intends to ask for a 30-year sentence.
Julie Roys is a veteran investigative reporter and founder of The Roys Report. She also previously hosted a national talk show on the Moody Radio Network, called Up for Debate, and has worked as a TV reporter for a CBS affiliate. Her articles have appeared in numerous periodicals.
English 
Spanish
14 Responses
Dela Cruz is flying a lot of red flags to say the least. According to an August 2023 article in the San Diego Sun, he is:
-married to a woman who is still performing in adult movies
-living in a polyamorous “open marriage” with her
-a self-described “hypnotherapist, life coach, and business strategist”.
Now he’s pled guilty to sexually abusing his sister as a teenager. I’m a bit skeptical, given all that, to the legitimacy of his “church”, legal and/or spiritual.
I am grateful that there is someone like you reporting on these important stories. I have a difficult time reading stories such as this one, but it is SO good that you have the stomach for this type of research and reporting. What you do is vital. You are uniquely gifted for this l ministry.
Jesus, please come quickly. It’s getting dark down here .
A) That’s messed up. I mean they shouldn’t do that to anyone, but their own sister?
B) Also surprised there’s a seperate law for oral. I mean it’s good that there is, they really need to have the book thrown at them.
This sort of thing is sadly NOT a rare occurrence in churches today!! I volunteered for several churches & ‘Christian Ministries’ for 12 years while I waited for green cards to be granted, & what I witnessed first hand broke my heart!! It assured me that the gospel they preached was totally false. I was addicted to a sexual sin, as well. When I asked for counsel to help me, I was told I was being too hard on myself!! So I began searching for God & His truth with ALL my heart Jer. 29:11-14. It took me a long time bc the motivation behind my efforts was to feel better about myself. I literally despised myself for my addiction. Then one day, as I was studying my bible, the thought suddenly struck me [God spoke to me?], “this is a selfish thing I am doing.” So I started at Genesis one again, and once more began to search for God & His truth. For His glory & best interests. Several months later God revealed Himself to me & I learned to fear Him & was able to repent. Ex. 20:20, Prov. 14:26-27, 16:6 He redeemed me & purified me so miraculously that I became a new creation just as He promises us. 2 Cor. 5:17 I wrote a book shortly after, declaring God’s true message of salvation & His plan to bring total healing to America to make her a shining city on a hill again. Amazon or B & N have ‘A Nation Broken’ ready to ship to u now. Only a major spiritual awakening will rebirth the true Church & heal America by sending Satan back to his fiery pit where he belongs.
I have a message from God in my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before their eyes. Ps. 36:1
I’m so confused. How can someone be charged first as an adult, then for a crime over 20 years ago with no witnesses or evidence beyond word of mouth testimony, and both were juveniles. While I believe in accountability and punishment, this shows how unjust and corrupt our system is. If the crime was not sexual abuse everyone would agree with me. No one considers that this teenage boy was obviously a victim of demonic home, and needed counseling and therapy. Not taking away the soul wounds and emotional damage to the poor child that was raped. This “justice system” that all you self righteous people are applauding is the same system that Satan will use gainsaid the true followers of Christ to destroy use. The unjust prosecution of people like this is running rampant $ you all applaud. It is to get you conditioned to it just like the “Hate speech” laws. Think about it!
He confessed and admitted the charges!
She was 8 years old.
Not everyone who grows up in a home full of demonic activity (your assumption which we don’t know is true) commits crimes!
By basically implying that some time has gone by and this guy should skate the, yes, you are downplaying, in fact, completely dismissing the suffering of his victim. This is the same rationale that defense attorneys and the family of amurder saying when it took 2 or 3 decades to catch the person. “But gee, he/she has been a terrific person since then!” Immaterial. They killed someone and justice needs to be served. Same rationale here, if you actually believe in justice. Doen’t matter if this happened 20 years ago. He needs to pay for his crime.
15 year olds are fully aware that they shouldn’t violently rape their 8 year old sisters and threaten them with knives and violence if they tell anyone. This is neither unjust or corrupt sentencing- he plead guilty and gave up the right to appeal- so it’s not her word against his, it’s both of their words. no need to play devil’s advocate here- he raped an 8 year old, multiple times. He is the literal devil.
Disgusting. I thank God that the sister of this wicked man had the courage to report what he did to her. And I pray to God that the prosecuting DA prevails in getting the 30-year sentence that he seeks. Please, Roys Report, follow your reporting through to the sentencing date of June 27. To the sister, I just pray that you will receive blessing after blessing for the rest of your days.
The Jesus they profess to “love” is not the Jesus of the Bible.
This is what all “churches” which preach a false “gospel” resemble and/or where they are headed.
It’s just more extreme and more transparent in this case.
A “gospel” without any mention or belief in transformation/regeneration (John 1:12-13 & 3:5-8, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 2:1-2, Titus 3:5 ETC.) is no “gospel” (definition: GOOD NEWS) at all.
“Little children, let no man deceive you: he that does righteousness is righteous, even as he [Jesus] is righteous.
He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.
For this purpose the son of God was manifested: so that he would destroy the works of the devil” (1st John 3:7-8)
“And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (1 Peter 4:18)
I’m ata loss of words… First of all than you for reporting this information. Second, too many self made pastors are our there, the filtering of candidates has been bypassed by a host of non denominational pastors. Is very risky. Third, Matthew 7:16 Mat 7:15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
Mat 7:16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?”
One, I hope he receives a long sentence, but I’m not holding my breath. Sometimes adults who are tried as adults for crimes committed as juveniles get sentenced like juveniles would be.
Also, the adult youth pastors from Calif. in the documentary Let Us Prey who were found guilty of sex crimes didn’t receive long sentences.
A 30-year sentence doesn’t mean much. The devil is in the details. Will his sentences be served concurrently or consecutively? The actual amount of time served will be less due to time off for good behavior. We’ll see on June 27.