WEST PALM BEACH — When the pastor knocked, his parishioner answered. She welcomed Pheguel Pierre Louis into her home, unsettled by the disturbing dream he said he had about her the night before.
She was in trouble, Pierre Louis said, and he needed to pray over her.
The pastor, 40, and the woman, 23, gave the same accounting to Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputies during separate interviews later. Their stories differed once they described what happened next, inside the house.
Pierre Louis said he “laid hands” on the woman’s forehead, something he told deputies he does often when praying over his congregants at New Jerusalem Church in Riviera Beach. The woman told investigators he ordered her to take off her dress, then rubbed oil on her body and sexually assaulted her with his fingers.
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Deputies arrested Pierre Louis in August 2023 and charged him with one count of sexual battery. He bonded out of jail eight days later and, one year later, made a deal with prosecutors that let him plead guilty to felony battery without becoming a convicted felon.
In accordance with the deal, Circuit Judge Daliah Weiss entered a withhold of adjudication. The resolution spared the pastor from prison and from the lifelong brand of a registered sex offender, leaving him to serve five years of probation instead.
The church, identified in business records as Eglise Evangelique De La Nouvelle Jerusalem, listed Pierre Louis as its vice president as recently as March, according to records from the Florida Department of State. Posts to the pastor’s public social media page indicate he still leads services there.
Deputies search for other suspected victims of Riviera church pastor
Though Pierre Louis emerged from his brush with the criminal justice system relatively unscathed, county deputies continue to investigate him. In a news release Thursday, detectives said they believe the pastor may have sexually assaulted other members of his church.
Deputies said they identified a second potential victim while investigating the allegations made by the first. This woman, who court records indicate is a sister of Pierre Louis’ first accuser, told detectives the pastor sexually assaulted her under the same pretenses in the spring of 2022.
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Her accusation helped bolster her sister’s but did not spawn additional criminal charges. Now, deputies are seeking information that might. They asked people with information to contact Special Investigations Detective Clifton Hamilton at (561) 688-4155.
Pierre Louis has not been charged again as of Oct. 14. When reached for comment Monday, he denied touching anyone inappropriately and said he was unaware of PBSO’s continuing investigation into him.
“Even though I explained this situation the way it was, nobody wanted to believe me,” he said. “Like the police. They did not want to believe me. They still arrested me.”
His former defense attorney, Steven Sessa, declined to comment on the previous charge against Pierre Louis and the possibility that others might follow.
Hannah Phillips covers criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at hphillips@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism and subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: PBSO deputies seek information on church pastor accused of sexual assault
