Gordon Solomon, 50, made his first court appearance in Inglewood Friday morning. Solomon was charged with seven felony counts of committing lewd acts on a child and two additional counts of sexual abuse of a person under the age of 14. If convicted on all charges, he could spend more than 25 years in prison.
Solomon is pastor of Christ's Community Church in Inglewood. Authorities allege he met the victim, a 14-year-old girl, through the church. The relatives say the alleged sexual activity begin when she was 12. Church members are shocked by the charges.
Authorities say the crimes occurred over a two-year period starting in June 2010 up to as recently as last Sunday. They believe Solomon developed a relationship with the girl, exchanging emails and texts of a sexual nature and met at various locations.
"The case was discovered after the mother reported the incident to authorities," said L.A. County Sheriff's Deputy Benjamin Grubb. "Apparently she found text messages on her daughter's phone regarding her and the suspect."
Solomon's bond was set at $3 million. Prosecutors say he told the victim that if their relationship was ever discovered he would flee.
The sheriff's department investigation was ongoing Friday. Authorities suspect there could be more victims.
