Pastor Victor Hernandez convicted of rape and sexual assault

Pastor Victor Wagner Hernandez has been found guilty of two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.  The verdict was handed down at around midday today by Justice Moore at the High Court in Punta Gorda, Toledo District. Hernandez, who lives in Jacintoville Village, is scheduled to be sentenced on August 10 at the High Court in Dangriga.  The case dates back to September 2024, when a woman went to Punta Gorda police and made a complaint against Hernandez. The Commissioner of Police at the time, Chester Williams, later confirmed that police were investigating the allegations.  For context, we take you back to that interview.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police [FILE: September 19, 2024]: “From what I was told by the acting OC of the Toledo Police Formation is that this report was made to the police some time ago. But there was no cooperation or minimal cooperation coming from the complainant due to fear from threats that she had received. Eventually she came forward and gave a full account of what may have transpired. And so the police had sent the matter to the DPP representative in the south for advice and having reviewed the file, the evidence on file, he advised the police to proceed with the charges against the pastor and the police acted accordingly. That matter is now before the court and I leave it at that. Those of us who are in public, who has authority and are in public life where people depend on us, people rely on us, people trust us. When we reach the trust of the people that trusted us then that is something that we have to be concerned about. A pastor is a person of eminence in society and when a pastor is accused of rape, it will certainly cause for concern not just for that community but the whole country. When I listen to the comments on social media and even on the live stream media, I think that the concerns of people are legitimate.”

Hernandez was 65 years old when he was arrested and charged. At the time, he led the Toledo Faith Outreach Christian Center and served as president of the National Evangelical Association of Belize.  The complainant told investigators that Hernandez raped her twice—first in August 2015 at a store he operated, and again in March 2016 at his home in Jacintoville. The sexual-assault charge arose from a separate incident in 2021, when Hernandez was accused of touching the woman’s breast without her consent.  According to earlier reports, the woman said she did not immediately go to the police because she was afraid, ashamed and dealing with the trauma of what had happened. An investigation was eventually carried out, and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions directed that Hernandez be charged.  He was arraigned in the Punta Gorda Magistrate’s Court in September 2024 and granted bail of ten thousand dollars, along with one surety in the same amount.  Following his arrest, the National Evangelical Association of Belize removed Hernandez from its executive leadership. With Hernandez now convicted on all three counts, the case moves to sentencing on August 10.