Crime & Safety

LI Youth Pastor Sexually Abused Girl At Seaford Home: PD

Jesse Vargas, 37, met the girl at an "Incredible Journey to Christianity" retreat in Michigan, police said.

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Jesse Vargas, 37, of Seaford, is accused of "engaging in a sex act" with a 15-year-old girl in his home.
Jesse Vargas, 37, of Seaford, is accused of "engaging in a sex act" with a 15-year-old girl in his home. (Nassau County Police Department)

SEAFORD, NY — A Seaford man sexually abused a girl he met as a youth pastor at a retreat in Michigan, Nassau County police announced Friday.

Jesse Vargas, 37, was arrested at his home Friday and charged with second-degree sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child. He will be arraigned Friday in Mineola.

Vargas met the girl at the "Incredible Journey to Christianity" retreat in 2011, according to Special Victims Squad detectives. In 2013, he arranged for her to visit his home, where he “engaged in a sexual act” with her, police said. The girl was 15 at the time.

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The Hazelwood Police Department in Missouri and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Crimes Against Children Division assisted in the investigation, Nassau police said.

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