"Brett Bymaster, 49, who was executive director of the Healing Grove Health Center in San Jose when he was first arrested and charged in April 2024, faces 10 felony charges of sexual assault involving a minor. All of the alleged crimes overlap with his tenure as a youth pastor and then youth program organizer with The River, which he left in 2019 amid a falling out with church members, reputedly over his religious philosophy."
"Six counts involve an accuser identified in court only as "K. Doe," who claims she was around eight years old when her abuse started. The remaining four counts involve her older sister, known as "J. Doe," who came forward with her own abuse account after the initial criminal charges, based on K. Doe's allegations, was approved for trial after a September 2024 preliminary hearing. Their allegations were later consolidated into a single case."
""There was something else happening, something happening in secret," Paynter said. "The defendant was molesting two girls, two children, two sisters, over years ... They gave him their trust and he repaid that trust by molesting them." Paynter and the DA's office content that Bymaster serially gave "side hugs" to the sisters that spilled over into intentional touching of their breasts and "wandering massages.""
A former youth pastor and nonprofit leader faces 10 felony counts of sexual assault involving a minor tied to his time at The River church. Six counts stem from allegations by an accuser identified as K. Doe, who says abuse began around age eight; four counts involve her older sister, J. Doe. The charges were consolidated after a September 2024 preliminary hearing. Prosecutors allege repeated inappropriate contact, including "side hugs" that became intentional touching and "wandering massages." Defense attorneys argue influential church families fabricated the claims to seek a multi-million dollar legal payoff. The case is now before a jury.
Read at The Mercury News
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]