A former Wisconsin pastor will spend the remainder of his life behind bars, after a jury found him guilty of repeated sexual assault of a young girl whose family reportedly attended his church.
On Tuesday, Judge Scott Corbett of Marathon County Circuit Court sentenced Delfino O’Day-Figueroa, 54, of Wausau, Wisconsin, to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The ruling followed a three-day jury trial last month, convicting O’Day-Figueroa of multiple counts of first- and second-degree sexual assault of a child.
According to a report in the Wausau Pilot and Review, O’Day-Figueroa had served as a pastor at Song Nulife Gospel Oasis Church in Wausau when the alleged crimes occurred. In the trial, witnesses referred to him as “Pastor Ray” and said O’Day-Figueroa “was a pastor there until about 2019.” The local church has since closed.
O-Day-Figueroa was also a registered sex offender at the time, based on a 1995 conviction for second-degree sexual assault of a child, which occurred in Milwaukee County. According to court records, in July 2011, O’Day-Figueroa was also convicted of multiple counts of fourth-degree sexual assault.
In a preliminary court hearing last November, authorities charged O’Day-Figueroa with repeated sexual assault of a minor based on testimony and evidence from an 18-year-old woman.
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According to reports from the trial, the girl—who was 10-years-old in 2014, when the abuse began—was helping care for her father who faced medical issues.
The woman reportedly told investigators that “Pastor Ray” regularly visited her family’s home to offer “help.” The evidence showed O’Day-Figueroa used this access to isolate her and subsequently sexually assault her.
The victim’s father “told police he stopped the visits after learning from a neighbor that O’Day-Figueroa was a sex offender,” according to an earlier report.
Prosecutors for the state cited O’Day-Figueroa’s previous child sex offenses in seeking a life sentence.
Following the court hearing, O’Day-Figueroa was immediately remanded to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections to serve his sentence.
Freelance journalist Josh Shepherd writes on faith, culture, and public policy for several media outlets. He and his family live in the Washington, D.C. area.
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One Response
What happened to background checks? They should be required of anyone who volunteers or is employed by a church. Anyone who falls to pass should be disqualified from serving in any capacity. That’s a consequence of sin.