A Baptist pastor has been convicted of burglary and stalking by a court in the United States.
Sergio Guardia is former pastor of the Spanish-language campus of Thomas Road Baptist Church (TRBC) in Lynchburg, Virginia, the megachurch founded by Jerry Falwell Sr and associated with Liberty University. He was found guilty of two counts of burglary, one count of stalking and a first-degree misdemeanour.
Guardia was a pastor at TRBC at the time of his arrest in 2023, despite his victim, Marie Columna having reported his behaviour to the church in 2017.
He was convicted of breaking into Ms Columna’s home in November 2023, having been reported by a neighbour who saw him trespassing two nights in a row. Columna, who is a single mother, was away from home at the time.
She told The Roys Report (TRR) that Guardia had been her pastor for six years at TRBC and alleged he had begun harassing and stalking her in late 2013. She said because of his "controlling" interactions she had stopped attending the church a year later.
Columna said that after reporting his behaviour to the church, she heard nothing until a year later when she was told he was "under church discipline".
Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) of Virginia confirmed that Guardia was a member of staff at the organisation from 2019 until 2023. It said that his employment was ended when SBC was told about his arrest.
Ms Columna said she felt "validated" after hearing the guilty verdict because “for so long, he has called me a liar and gaslit me constantly".
A pre-sentencing hearing is set for August.