SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) - A 67-year-old Southern California pastor has been charged with molesting children as young as 5 over more than a decade.
KABC-TV says John McFarland of Fullerton appeared in court Monday but didn’t enter a plea.
He’s charged with committing lewd and lascivious acts with seven children. The eldest was 15.
Prosecutors say the molestations occurred between 2003 and 2017 while McFarland was a pastor at several Orange County churches.
Authorities say he most recently was head pastor at Orangethorpe United Methodist Church in Fullerton.
If convicted of all 11 counts, he could face a potential sentence of 179 years to life in prison.
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