A former youth pastor in Lake Forest has been arrested on charges of rape after multiple victims accused him of sexually assaulting them both inside and outside the church where they worked, and investigators said Saturday they are seeking additional victims.
Sean Patrick Aday, a 38-year-old Lake Forest resident, was arrested Friday on charges of rape, sodomy, penetration with a foreign object and sexual assault, according to an Orange County Sheriff’s Department news release.
He was released on $500,000 bond Saturday morning.
The arrest came after a female victim told investigators in October that Aday had sexually assaulted her while he worked as a youth pastor at Grace Community Church.
Several other females later indicated to investigators that they had been sexually assaulted by Aday in the past several years while he was employed there. The church terminated Aday in October because of the allegations.
The assaults occurred inside the church, on church property, in various Orange County locations and during church-sponsored trips to Costa Rica, Moldova and South Africa, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
All the victims were unrelated, in their late teens to early twenties, and working as parishioners or volunteers at the church.
Investigators believed there were additional victims and asked that they come forward.
Anyone with information was asked to call the Sheriff’s Department’s Special Victim’s Unit at 714-647-7418 or 714-647-7000. Anonymous tips could be submitted to Orange County Crime Stoppers at 855-847-6227 or at occrimestoppers.org.