California Ex-Pastor Matthew Tague Pleads Guilty to Child Molestation Charges After Wife Caught him Abusing 13-Year-Old Relative

Karen Graham speaks to the media after the arraignment of Matthew Tague at the Vista Courthouse. She said Tague was a mentor and pastor to her late son late Rory Graham 10 years ago. She says her son would be shocked to hear about the changes against Tague. (Charlie Neuman)

A former assistant pastor at a Carlsbad, CA, church pleaded guilty this week to child molestation charges, a prosecutor said.

Matthew Tague, 44, pleaded guilty to two counts of lewd acts on a child under the age of 14 during a hearing Thursday in San Diego County Superior Court, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Patricia Lavermicocca. He faces between 10 and 20 years in prison when he is sentenced in April.

Tague called sheriff’s investigators in May to report the crime himself, after his wife caught him molesting a 13-year-old relative, authorities said.

The molestation was unrelated to his duties at North Coast Calvary Chapel and did not happen there, authorities and church officials said.

Tague, who lived in San Marcos, had once been a family pastor at North Coast Calvary, as well as a pastor for the church’s ministry to people aged 30 to 40.

He was fired in May when the church learned of the allegations.

SOURCE: TERI FIGUEROA
The Los Angeles Times