S26 Ep2: He Underestimated My Healing

Stop the podcast! Stop the podcast! Hi everybody, just to let you know, this episode of Fish is sponsored by TV licensing. Yes, TV licensing. What are you watching on TV, Andy? I have been watching a show that's called Two Weeks in August. Okay. Despite it being July at the time of recording. Oh, you don't have to watch TV shows in the time that their name references. No, absolutely. I watch the Darling Buzz of May in winter. Anyway, Two Weeks in August, it's a really good series. It's set on a lovely Mediterranean holiday. And it's a group of old mates from uni who've gathered together. Some of them have got kids, some of them haven't. Some of them have been going through big life events. And it's one of those amazing pressure cooker series where things just get more and more and more tense. Oh, those stressful ones. I love it. I love it. I love my comedy, I gotta say. So I've been watching Android, which is Diane Morgan's new thing. And I absolutely love it. For me, I always, on television, watch everything with someone from Bolton. And that's basically all I watch. And she's from Bolton. She's from Bolton. But in this show, I believe she's a robot. She's a robot, and it is not certain where in the country she's from. It depends where the facility is that makes her, I suppose. I guess so. But what are we actually here to say? Oh, we're here to say that if you want to watch any of these shows, your TV license covers you to watch over 400 TV channels and everything on BBC iPlayer. That is incredible. So Two Weeks in August has finished going out now, but you can get hold of it on the iPlayer. If you want to find out more about this, then go to tvl.co.uk forward slash pod. Now back to the tension and the stress and the misery of this episode of Fish. Oh, I thought you were referencing Bolton. I'm with the podcast. If you love Something Was Wrong and want to help support the show and listen ad-free, become a community contributor on Apple Podcasts or purchase a sticker from our sticker shop at brokencyclemedia.com. Thank you so much. Something Was Wrong is intended. for mature audiences and includes topics that may be upsetting. This season, we'll be discussing friendship betrayal, religious abuse, stalking, sexual assault, and other serious topics. So please listen with care. Some names have been changed for safety or anonymity purposes. The podcast and any linked materials should not be misconstrued as a substitution for legal or medical advice. Sources and resources are listed in the description below. Thank you so much for watching. We'll see you next time. Sources and resources can be found in the episode notes. Thank you so much for listening. Last time on Something Was Wrong. My ex-husband and Sergio hit it off right away. They became instant friends. I decided to go to that shelter. I only packed one small bag. I had to make my ex-husband believe I was just going for the weekend. I had a much different vision of how I thought my life would be at 29 years old. Coming back to the church after separation, the dynamic really changed. It was just more of this big, brother-type relationship. My divorce had been finalized, and Sergio showed up at my door one day with groceries. There were a few times more that he did that every few weeks. Sometimes he would already be at my house on the front steps. After a few times of this, I had asked him not to come back. I don't feel comfortable with this. I remember feeling so agitated and annoyed. It just felt like, this was a child coming to my house. And I remember thinking and wondering, where does his boss think he is? There must be no accountability of his time, which now I know I don't believe there is. He's using his working hours. And by the way, I lived on a busy street. People that knew me would see me as they're passing by my house. And he is coming one time even in the church van. I remember thinking he does not care if people know that he's in my house, which, really shocked me because as a pastor, aren't you concerned even with the look of something. It should have been probably one of the biggest red flags besides his persistence. There was one moment where I was upstairs and he rang the doorbell and I stayed upstairs just hoping he would leave. It was a very, very intrusive moment because he would not stop ringing the doorbell. I can't remember how long it was. It felt like a very long time. But I'm telling you, he rang that doorbell over and over again. That let me know this man does not accept no. He knows I'm home and he is entitled to have my attention. He just felt so needy. I told him I don't want trouble. Even when I'm telling him I have to work and I need to leave now. He didn't care. He'd be like, wait, wait, wait, wait. The expectation was for me to prioritize him, not my job. Not my income, not my kids. Entitlement, pure entitlement. Sometimes I wouldn't let him inside my house. I was able to come out and be like, we're going to stay on the porch. I would say this is emotional manipulation, but he would become very, very sad and have the saddest face. So it's like, oh, I feel like this emotional obligation to make him feel better because he really needs someone to talk to through this time of him harassing me. He was telling me, that I was inappropriate with men because he saw me talking to men after church. This is in a public setting. Why is he even paying attention to that? It's very possessive and it made me feel like he's watching me. Anytime he would tell me these things, it was trying to convince me that this is who I am. This is identity manipulation. This is an attempt to control my identity. And what I believe about myself. He eventually attempted to control my friendships, my relationships and my activity on social media. He attempted to control my housing, my finances, every little thing in my life. It was unbelievable. My parenting, how I organized my house. It would take a long time to list every single tactic, but it was always subtle. For instance, I was struggling to pay rent one month and he told me I'm paying too much for rent and I should move into an apartment complex. It was a specific apartment complex, which now it concerns me thinking about that. Instead of just telling me about resources through Thomas Road, he had Thomas Road send rent money for my rent to my landlord, which I was grateful for. But I was even thinking, why didn't he tell me how to access that resource, which is just another pattern creating dependency. At one point, he had also said that everyone in the church and other leaders and his mother-in-law all saw all of the attention that I give to him in church. They've approached him at different times and they communicated that they were very concerned with all the attention that I give to him. I didn't believe it for one second. Because I rarely talk to him at church. In fact, after church, the congregation would stay and mingle and talk. There's very, very few times that he would actually talk to me in church. This is reinforcing that this is what he's telling other people. So now if I go to the church leadership or his wife and say, this is what he's been doing to me, they're not going to believe me because they already have a story in their head. He, at one point, started complaining about his wife. And when he started complaining about his wife, that's when I first even considered that he might be pursuing me. Before that, I was just thinking he's bored. He loves to talk to people. He's needy. I said, you guys should get counseling. He was telling me she has mental health issues, that she should be on medication. I believed he was only telling me that to get me to feel sorry for him. I didn't know if there was any truth to what he was saying, but I was so uncomfortable. And I told him that with him telling me these things, because I'm not able to help. Well, that was just the setup for what was to come next. You know, the next few times he would come after me telling him, don't come back to my house after I had left the church. Then he's telling me that he is in love with me. He wants a relationship with me. He was telling me all these good things about me. Words of affirmation are not my strongest love language. So it was just like, oh, okay, thanks. That's nice. And then he said, what do you think about me? And I've never heard anyone ask me that before. So I just was like, what? And he pressured and pressured and pressured me. I'm thinking he has such low self esteem. and he really needs me to tell him something good about him but i had this really bad feeling for some reason I just felt like is he trying to set me up so I just decided to say you're just a good person and that was all I said I was so concerned that I started to wonder is he trying to get me to say something that he would use against me later I told him at one point if you come back I'm going to call the police he knew everything that I'd gone through with my ex-husband he knew that I had a protective order against my ex-husband that I filed two police reports against my ex-husband for violating the protective order twice he knew that I used the law and set boundaries and maintain boundaries with the law it really shocked me that he knows this about me and yet he's basically doing the same and he would even say pretty consistently I'm not like him my ex-husband I don't want you to think I'm like him the first time he said that in my head I just thought okay so he's exactly like him but he I believe thought I was the perfect target he knew my past he knew the trauma that I experienced in childhood when I was married we had gone out to eat me my ex-husband Sergio and his wife and while we were out to eat for some strange reason my ex-husband who never cared about my childhood trauma has never brought it up I'd only told him about it maybe one time before we were married he told Sergio that I was adopted that I'd been through foster care and my ex-husband encouraged me to tell him more and I thought that was so strange it really stood out to me I believe that was weaponized against me he knew about the abuse that I endured through my marriage and he underestimated my healing stop the podcast the podcast hi everybody just to let you know this episode of fish is sponsored by tv licensing yes tv licensing what are you watching on tv andy I have been watching a show that's called two weeks in august okay despite it being july at the time of recording oh you don't have to watch tv shows in the time that their name references no absolutely I watched the darling buzz of may and winter anyway two weeks in august it's a really good series it's set on a like a lovely mediterranean holiday and it's a group of old mates from uni who've gathered together some of them have got kids some of them haven't some of them have been going through big life events and it's one of those amazing pressure cooker series where things just get more and more and more tense those stressful ones I love it I love it I love my comedy I gotta say uh so I've been watching android which is diane morgan's new thing and I absolutely love it but I just for me I always on television watch everything with someone from bolton in it that's basically all I watch and she's from bolton she's from bolton but in this show I believe she's a robot she's a robot and it is not certain where in the country she's from it depends where the facility is that makes her I suppose I guess so but what are we actually here to say oh we're here to say that if you want to watch any of these shows your tv license covers you to watch over 400 tv channels and everything on bbc iplayer that is incredible so two weeks in august has finished going out now but you can get hold of it on the iplayer if you want to find out more about this then go to tvl.co.uk forward slash pod now back to the tension and the stress and the misery of this episode of fish oh I thought you were referencing bolton on with the podcast I had told him I would call the police and sure enough a few weeks later he came back to my house I had been sweeping when he was at my door he had seen me and I saw him I decided okay I'm just gonna open the door finish this up a little tell him I have a meeting and walk out the door with him to get him out of my house I believed he was entitled which actually should have been a little more alarming to me entitlement is actually pretty terrible but I did not believe he was dangerous I opened the door he comes in and I'm like not really paying him any attention I'm telling him I'm just finishing up cleaning I bend down to sweep dirt into the dustpan and when I stand back up he suddenly assaults me he kisses me he puts his hand up my shirt and it was so sudden so abrupt so forceful he had never attempted to touch me up until that point now I realize when an assault happens the whole purpose of an assault is to catch you off guard is to make sure you are not even aware of what is about to happen I was so taken off guard and so shocked I pushed him away and yelled and I've never seen him leave my house so fast it seemed like he was scared I've known him for a long time and I was really good friends with him so I'm thinking I must have given him a chance to get out of my house and I'm like I don't know what to do I'm giving him a wrong impression. But it was, I think, at the time of the assault when I really realized I am not wrong and it's not me. After he assaulted me as he was leaving, I said, I swear I will call the police the next time I even see you on my property. I didn't call police because I didn't think that they would believe me or even worse, they would believe me and wouldn't do anything because he's a pastor at Thomas Road Baptist Church. It's a very big, powerful, influential church in this small town. He's very persuasive. I had considered telling his wife. I was very unsure if she would believe me. I moved for my safety because I was concerned. I moved to a townhome and I specifically chose a townhome because I believed that I'd be safer in a townhome because houses are connected. And I just thought, there's no way anyone or he specifically would try to come to my townhome because people are watching and it's too risky. Little did I know how bold he is and there's really no risk to him. And that's the scariest part. Within months of living in that townhome, I would see him in public. He would run into me. I use that sentence loosely. It would be in public places like Walgreens or Kroger's. These were places that were by his house too. When he first ran into me in public after the assault, a few weeks later, I had parked, got out of my car and I see him and I immediately say, no, I don't want to talk. And he's like, wait, wait. He does his little sad face. And he said, wait, but the other day, and I just had stopped. I'm like, what? And he said, the other day when you kissed me and my whole body, I just had chills. What he did in that moment was he flipped the script. It wasn't even like he was trying to persuade me. He was telling me this is how it actually went, that I kissed him. I don't even remember what he said after that. I remember just feeling so numb and so scared. And it was at that moment that I knew something was really, really wrong. I felt unsafe. A few months after living there, I had a routine. I'd be out of the house with my kids at drop them off at daycare and would be back home. I don't know, usually 536 o'clock at night. One day I went outside of that routine. I'd left something at home. So I went to my house to get what I'd forgotten to bring to work. And when I opened my door, I saw Sergio. As soon as I stepped into my house, in my living room, on my laptop, he was standing next to my sofa. He had the laptop on the back of the sofa. He quickly put it down on the sofa. I obviously startled him. And I just started yelling. I was shocked. It was unbelievable to me. What are you doing here? Why are you in my house? Why are you on my laptop? And he is acting very happy to see me. He's smiling. He has nicknames for people. He said I look like Mariah Carey, which I don't even think is accurate. But he was like, what's wrong? He was saying I wasn't on your laptop. And I'm like, yes, you were. Get out of my house. And he wouldn't leave. It didn't work. I'm like, get out of my house. And then he starts coughing, like doing a little cough. And he's like, I need water. Can I have some water, please? And I just pick up my phone. I'm saying I'm calling 911. Then he leaves. He never showed up to my house again that I knew of. I should have called police. But I once again was afraid that they wouldn't believe me or even worse, that they would believe me, but they just wouldn't do anything about it because of his position. I could see that he disrespected every boundary. That's what made me the most scared. I had unfriended him. So we were not connected on social media. We never actually had contact through email or text messages or social media or anything. And then I was getting notifications. I was getting notifications. I was getting notifications from Yahoo every once in a while. Sometimes it would be months in between. So I'd get a notification on my phone and it would say a new device logged into your Yahoo email. I would click it and it would show the IP address. So I would do a search online for this IP address and it would say that it was a Liberty University owned laptop and it would give locations throughout Lynchburg. At one point, a notification appeared. I looked up the IP address and it said Liberty owned laptop in Cochabamba, Bolivia. That's when I knew it's totally him. And I could not figure out how he was able to log in if I kept changing my passwords. I finally realized one thing that I missed is one of the backups that I had was my Liberty University email address. I thought maybe he's able to access my email address through Liberty still. I took that off and after I took that off as a backup, I never got those notifications again. I many times had considered going to Liberty University. I didn't fully trust Liberty University. or Thomas Road Baptist Church because I'm just thinking back all this time he's been coming to my house at various times during the day and being so bold to even pull up in front of my house on a busy street in a van that says Thomas Road Baptist Church. But I'm also thinking I wonder if they would just support him anyway because of how persuasive, the way he is, how good he is at lying. The narrative he's telling me is the complete opposite of reality. I have come to learn that Sergio gives a story about people before that person even knows what's happening. I had gone to Bolivia on two missions trips. Our first trip there, I met all the missionaries and one of the men that was there. His name was Pablo and he was a really nice guy. He was around my age. I didn't get super close to him but the second trip there, I got to interact with him more. Around 2017, he had contacted me over Facebook. He let me know that he was coming to live in Lynchburg, Virginia to attend Liberty University. He was excited to come and he wanted to get together and I was like, absolutely. And I always felt comfortable around him. So, he moved here, was attending Liberty and we hung out a lot. Was he a pastor at that time as well? Yes. And that was interesting to me because I thought he was coming to Liberty University to get his degree. I knew he wanted to become a pastor but it seems like he came here and immediately became a pastor of a church plant of Thomas Road Baptist Church. While he was doing seminary perhaps? Yes. I attended that church with him. It was in Roanoke. So, it was an hour away from Lynchburg. At one point, we were hanging out and he's like, I want to talk to you. He's very serious and he tells me he's very interested in me and he would like to pursue a relationship with me. Sergio was one of his best friends and he says, Sergio told me everything. And I was like, what? He said, I want to let you know. I want to let you know that I'm on your side. I was so angry and in disbelief as he's telling me that Sergio told him about the affair that Sergio and I had. But he was very vague and wouldn't tell me specifically what everything meant, which actually really concerns me. Because what else is part of the narrative? I just start telling Pablo like, no, no, no. But Pablo just keeps talking and he just keeps saying, but I'm on your side. And I'm like, no, listen to me. He has pursued me. I was not in a relationship with him. We never did anything. At the time, I really was thinking, oh my gosh, Sergio has convinced this man that I pursued him. We were in a relationship. The reality is that Sergio manipulated me, attempted to control every part of my life. He harassed me and stalked me and broke into my home. And has been monitoring my activity because I was so persistent and angry. Pablo finally stopped talking and let me tell him. And I told him what had happened. I was like, he kept showing up at my house. He wouldn't accept any boundaries. His behavior only escalated. He was trying to force me into a relationship with him. I kept telling him I didn't want him at my house. He would show up. He assaulted me, then was showing up in public. And then I told him he had broken into my townhome. A couple months before. And so it almost seemed like he understood and cared. He left my house and I was still left questioning, what does he believe? And what does he think about this? But at that point, I said, I can't have any type of relationship or friendship with this man. It actually made me more scared and more concerned because of how he was able to use another person. Pablo let me, know that he had reported it to the pastors at Thomas Road Baptist Church. About a year later, I get another message from Pablo. And he said, I just want to let you know that right now, Sergio is under church discipline because of another situation. And so because of that situation, your situation with him was thrown back at the table. The way it was worded was weird, which only leads me to believe that it's a similar situation. He asked that I don't say anything to anyone, which I had never ever said anything about Sergio and what he did to me to anyone except for Pablo. He made a comment like, I know that you were really concerned about accountability for him. I just felt like I should let you know. And I said, thank you for letting me know. Stop the podcast. Stop the podcast. Hi, everybody. Just to let you know, this episode of Fish is sponsored by TV licensing. Yes, TV licensing. Okay. No, absolutely. I watched the Darling Buzz of May in winter. Anyway, Two Weeks in August. It's a really good series. And it's a group of old mates from Utah. It's a group of people who've gathered together. I love it. I love it. But I just, for me, I always on television watch everything with someone from Bolton in it. That's basically all I watch. She's from Bolton. She's a robot. And it is not certain where in the country she's from. I guess so. That is incredible. Now back to the tension. And the stress and the misery of this episode of Fish. A couple months later, I decide to look at the Facebook page of the Spanish church. And on that page, I see this post about Sergio. It's dated after the conversation with Pablo. They held this resignation celebration for him. He had resigned and stepped down as the pastor of the Spanish church because he took a position at the Southern Baptist Convention. It almost seems like a promotion because he was now overseeing all of the Hispanic churches in the state of Virginia, which is terrifying to think about. Hispanic churches have some of the most vulnerable people in our population, which is the undocumented women and children. To me, it seemed like nothing was done. And maybe that message was just too satisfying. And to get me to believe that something had been done. But this seems to be a pattern now from what I've noticed within Thomas Road Baptist Church and Liberty University. Your best friend Claire also mentioned that she didn't know about some of the things that were happening with Sergio until the break-ins. Why do you think you chose not to share? I did not share anything that I experienced from Sergio. Out of protecting him, actually, which is wild. I was trying to protect his reputation and I was trying to protect his wife. My thought was if I was going to tell anybody about what was happening, it would be someone that would do something about it. I didn't think that there was any reason to tell anyone. So I decided not to speak to church leadership, not even his wife. On top of that, I was trying to protect my wife. I was trying to protect my wife. been doing these horrible things. Those are serious accusations. I just did not feel comfortable telling anyone. From the time that he had broken into my townhome to the time that he broke into my house in 2023, I had not seen him in six years. So it was very, very shocking to me. I was going to be in D.C. for a friend's birthday the weekend before. That friend had canceled. So I was like, well, I already had boarding for the dogs and I had already planned to go somewhere. I hadn't visited Claire in a while. I had contacted her and asked her if I could come visit. And she was like, absolutely. My kids and I traveled to Pennsylvania. We got there Friday evening in Pennsylvania at Claire's house. And that night we just hung out. I turned off my phone probably around nine o'clock and we went to bed pretty early. My kids, they were teenagers. They stayed up watching TV in the living room and were sleeping in a bedroom on that main floor. I woke up Saturday morning around 8 a.m. I turned on my phone. And when I turned on my phone, the first notification that I saw was person detected in kitchen camera, something like that. And I said, that's weird. A neighbor of ours that was a friend of my kids, he was a teenager. He agreed to bring in packages for us because this was November. So Christmas gifts were coming in. But the notification said 1130 Friday night. So I was thinking there's no reason that this kid would have been in my house at 1130. But I was automatically assuming it was him because who else would be in my house? And he was the only one that I had given the key to my house. When I open up the notification, it starts with the basement door being opened, the man coming through the basement door that leads into the kitchen. And it was facing the front door. But it also faced that door from the basement going into the kitchen. And the man walks into the kitchen. It's like he knew where he was. And I immediately recognized him. There's no doubt who this guy is. Sergio, my former pastor that I had not seen in about six years, at least. It might have been longer. I was completely shocked. He was completely identifiable. He kind of looks closer. Like, what is that? As if he had been there before and hadn't seen it. Everything about that footage makes me believe he has been there before. To come into a house that is so dark, so late at night, when it's dark outside, it's dark in the house. He seems familiar with the place. He knows where he is. I mean, it had to be so chilling. It was. I screamed. I literally jumped out of the bed. I ran downstairs just yelling, there was a man in my house. And I run up to Claire and show her the video. I will never forget this for the rest of my life. Here's Claire. I was staying in my kitchen and I was making breakfast. I was downstairs with my daughter and Marie's kids. And I heard her coming down the stairs. She said my name. You could feel the terror in her voice. She came around the corner. She was white as a ghost. I just immediately knew that something was like terribly wrong. I can't remember her exact words, but it was something along the lines of like, somebody broke into my house last night. There was a man in my house last night. She came over to me and we were watching the video and her kids were behind us. And the video wasn't even on for like two seconds. And her kids were like, that's Sergio. He looks directly at the camera the first night and bolts out the door. You know that he knows that the cameras are there. She's like, what is he doing in our house? Why is he there? She had posted on her Instagram story that they were on a road trip. She was like, I typically never post that I'm away from my house. Later, in hindsight, after this happens, she goes back to her stories and sees that even though she does not have him on any social media whatsoever, her Instagram profile is public. And he had watched her stories and saw that she was out of state. One of the first things that we were extremely concerned about was that it had something to do with her daughter. Because the way that he was getting in the house was through her basement door. Her basement is above ground, for lack of a better word. And her daughter, room was down there. I can look back now and see all of the red flags. And that's the crazy thing is I went through so much with him. Why would I be so shocked about this? But for some reason, I still was. If I had been on the outside looking in and that happened to somebody else, I wouldn't be that shocked, I don't think. If I knew the prior history, because I knew him before, I think that is probably one of the biggest reasons. It was just hard for me to actually accept that he was a predator. He was a stalker. When I saw him on my security camera, that's when I feared for my life. That's when I really recognized and maybe accepted that this is a dangerous man. And I was absolutely in fear of my life and in fear of our safety and the safety of my children. I immediately called police. I went to another room because I also didn't want to share all of the past history with my kids listening. I called 9-1-1. I let them know that there was a man that had broken into my house. I just saw the camera footage. He's not supposed to be there. I told them who it was and that it was my former pastor. And he had no permission to be in my house. And I said, I've had problems with him before. The police officer asked me a couple of questions. So he definitely said, seemed interested to get more information, to have more clarity. He also asked me if I'd ever sent nude images to him, which my initial reaction in my head was, why the hell does that matter? I'm still not totally sure why that matters, but somehow it seems to matter because police officers asked me the next night too. I let him know that no images have ever been shared between us. I'm thinking that it might be to determine intent. The police officer asked me if I wanted to press charges. And I said, yes. He asked me when I would be home back in Lynchburg. This was Saturday morning, November 11th. Sunday, November 12th, I'd be back in the evening. He said he would come over and then he would write the report. What I understood is they were not going to have any contact with him. They had to do the report first. That is why Sergio wasn't arrested that night, which is why he came back. Third Love makes bras that actually fit. So they know this. If your bra feels uncomfortable, the problem isn't your body, it's your bra. Third Love designs for comfort first. Soft fabrics, support that doesn't dig, pinch, or slip. Bras that feel good and look good under everything you wear. Shop Third Love and explore over 60 sizes, including AA through H, and half cup sizes you won't find anywhere else. Get $15 off your first purchase at thirdlove.com with code PODCAST15. It's set on a lovely Mediterranean holiday, and it's a group of old mates from uni who've gathered together. Some of them have been going through big life events, and it's one of those amazing pressure cooker series where things just get more and more and more tense. I love it. I love it. So I've been watching Android, which is Diane Morgan's new thing, and I absolutely love it. She's from Bolton. I guess so. That is incredible. If you want to find out more about this, then go to bbc.iplayer.com. And go to tvl.co.uk/pod. Oh, I thought you were referencing Bolton on with the podcast. After this happened, it was like the floodgates opened in Marie's mind, and she just kept remembering these interactions or things that had happened over the years where she realized, even though she didn't know. It, he had basically been watching her or involved in her life in some way all along. and she didn't even realize that it was happening it was like dominoes falling all these things that she was remembering i didn't actually find out really anything until she was at my house she didn't share anything that had gone on she was trying to be so respectful and so understanding for his family that she was living through this alone and so i think she kind of like compartmentalized all that stuff because of what she was going through in her personal life with her ex and so until this happened all of those little red flags all of the sudden it was like a field cleared and she could see everything together at the same time i remember she just sat on my bed for hours remembering all of the stuff that she had never put together before how he has been essentially stalking her you on her doorstep and it was always for like some benevolent reason trying to do something nice for her and trying to come off as this supportive person that's just here to help her when in reality he was just trying to like manipulate control and like gain this access into her life so that he could do god knows what he was always trying to weasel his way into her life under the ruse of good intentions it was very very wolf in sheep's clothing later that night we were in my living room watching a movie and her phone dings again and she was like he is breaking into my house again and so we literally watched him live breaking into her home for a second night in a row and i was like marie you have to call the cops right now so that they can catch him while he's there she called them and funny enough i actually have family in the same town that she lives in and my husband was down there hunting at the time and i called him and told him what was going on and they were like we can actually hear the cops it was so surreal is this really happening the fact that he had the audacity to go back for a second night marie was like dumbfounded i said no way he's breaking in again and they were shocked i called 9-1-1 i'm out of state so they connect me to lynchburg 9-1-1 then i report there's a man that broken in my house he had broken in the night prior he's in the house right now i just watched it live on my camera the police got there quickly i remember the dispatcher was asking helpful questions one thing she asked is does he have a weapon on him and i'm like no and i don't think he owns a gun right after i said that i'm just thinking you know what i think he's capable of anything and he's even admitted that he's capable of evil because he has said that phrase so many times we're all capable of evil even you are the 911 dispatcher ends that phone call after the police arrive to the house then i'm able to see the police arrive to the house then i'm able to see then i'm able to see the police arrive to the house then i'm able to see in real time the police officers searching my house then i get a phone call shortly after that 9-1-1 call from an investigator who ended up being the investigator for this case he asked a lot of questions who this man was what the relationship was i said he was my pastor he wanted to know if i'd ever been in a relationship with him i just let him know he never had a relationship with me he had absolutely no permission and no reason to be at my house i let him know the past problems with him and that he doesn't stop every time i try to set boundaries his behaviors would just escalate and they wanted to know why he would be in my house that's a question that was asked to me a couple of times that night why would he be in my house and i said i've i have no idea he asked me if i wanted to press charges i said yes and that's the point where then they went into the home to search for him because i believed he was still there i even asked that investigator is he still in my house and he said well we're still trying to figure that out you have ten four units on the right it's gonna be the house right next to you let's get a permanent we'll hold it till the dog yeah absolutely all right lynchburg police canine anyone make yourself known now make yourself known now if not i'll release the dog and when he finds you he'll bite you that's what the notes say it's her it's an old pastor what really yeah the note that more notes popped up when y'all got after y'all got here okay that's the weird thing the pastor yeah your old pastor do we know um like what she wants us to do why would he be in her house do we know the notes said that i showed up and added that it's her old pastor hey she wants to press charge for being me it sounds like this may be uh amy with intent to commit assault it sounds like a stalking issue stating that he has never lived here and that she believes he was also here last night she spoke with officers about that as well okay she says she wants to press charge for b e that is recorded oh all right i want to know if he if he we have him leaving too because i'm wondering if those check this front door to see if it's on i mean he would have had to have gone out the same way the door is locked from the inside same behind the door key's still in it yeah so he would have came in and out of there yeah that's all we're doing we're just checking the house to make sure it's okay so he doesn't seem to be in there now we're just curious to where he went she's got cameras there how do we do we not have him leaving no i guess she's that's what's the whole point was she's like i saw him go in i never got a notification saying he went out is this from yesterday or today today like just before we got here yeah so that's where is he at so he either so it's a ring camera sometimes it doesn't pick up stuff so he either like left out somewhere else or not yeah i don't like that yeah i don't like that or not um but so it's a stalking pastor i'm comfy some cameras didn't pick it up i don't know i hope so that's still a really weird thing today did hamlet not go get warrants on him last night i have no idea with any of that i mean it sounds like bna with intent to commit assault or something like that what'd she say she says it's like an obsession thing like stalking and i think that that would fall under the reason yes she says she lives here he's never lived here that i was like well what's his interest in being here and you know what if we got well the in contact for now i'll do it away from that hey how's it going sergio hey i'm officer lynchburg pd how are you doing how are you you you okay you look like you you're stumbling a little bit like leaning forward no no no i'm sorry okay you're okay so i'm officer harris lynchburg police department you're fine you we can hang out right here uh so uh i'm gonna read you your miranda warning and all that okay just because i want to talk to you about some stuff that's going on yes okay all right so uh why did you enter street tonight why did you go into a i didn't we have you on video of doing it about 30 minutes ago you did why why'd you go inside i didn't go inside you did go inside you entered through the basement no yeah the back door we have we have you i could play you the video i'm just trying to figure out why you would do that i i don't know you don't know why you would do that no i i don't care maybe it should remain silent all right so we're trying to figure out exactly do you have a video for me that's you right there same glasses and everything you're wearing the same clothes going right in the back door did you used to live there no you know her like what why help us help you like why are you going into that that's not me that is you we didn't just randomly come over to your house this is you walking down the street wearing the exact same outfit that you're wearing right now just with a jacket on in the same van in the same van service vehicle it's gonna zoom in here in a second yeah we have you on camera last night doing it too and there's a camera in the house that has your face in it we're just trying to make sense of all those because i don't know it makes a difference if you're going in to hurt somebody or if you're going in to steal something or if you you just have an obsession with somebody all these things make a difference the reason why i know that you did it i'm not here to dispute with you that you did it this is me trying to figure out why because the why is what elevates everything so that's why i'm trying to figure this out i didn't go in there okay keep hearing such a box for me okay i'm sorry okay all right am i under arrest not right now um but go ahead and just put your hands behind your back for me you're just being detained all right is your wife inside okay i have a conversation with her here in a second figure out what's going on lynchburg police department hi i'm officer central pd do you mind if i come inside and talk to you for a minute - Hi, are you Sergio's wife? - Yes. - Can I speak to you out here for a moment? Yes, yes. I'll talk to you down here. I just don't want to get everybody involved in the business. Do you know where Sergio has been tonight? Do you, like, you aware of his whereabouts the last, like, hour or so? Did he tell you where he was going? Yes, he went to Paris City, and he told me that the place was closed. Okay. And he come back here. Okay. And he told me, we're trying to buy balloons for the pastor that is, that is, his birthday tomorrow, so I have to go to Kroger to buy them. What happened? Is your last name? Yes. Okay. What's your first name? I'm sorry. Laura. Laura. Okay, Laura. So, do you know a Marie who stays off Avenue? No. No? You don't know her? She used to maybe be a pastor. He used to be her pastor, a female. There's a, we have your husband on video entering. He's entering somebody's dwelling through the basement door in the last hour or so, and it sounds like it's been an ongoing problem the last couple nights. He most certainly, I don't think, has been at Party City. I have him on video, and she recognized him. So, I'm trying to make sense of all this. Do you know why that might be? No, I don't know who's Marie in Avenue. Okay. So, you're not familiar with that at all? No. Okay. I'm not trying to scare you, upset you or anything. I'm very scared. But the issue is, is that he's denying any knowledge of it, and we have him very plainly on video. Which makes me, leads me to believe that there's something more to it. That he had, his intent was more than just, than just invading somebody's privacy. So, that's my, that's my concern. Has he ever done anything like that before? No. No. Never. Never? Okay. So, so that's something that I'd like to say. Clearly in video. Can I see the video? Sure, sure. I can, I can, I can get that for you here in a second. But you, he's never mentioned anything about anybody on video or anything like that? No, no, no. Okay. Do y'all have children together? Yes, of course. Three. How old is he? He's 48. 48, okay. Yeah, it's, I know this is kind of a, kind of a shock. And I'm not trying to, like I said, stir anything up. But what I'm, I am concerned is because it sounds like when we spoke to the female, she recognized him. That's how we were able to find you here. Is that, and he's very plainly in the video wearing the same clothes. Like, so this happened recently. The video is time stamped and everything. It's something we're concerned about. Oh, my goodness. Yes, ma'am. Now I know what happened. What happened? There's a missionary house and you can, now I, I, I forgot about this situation. There's a missionary house. Okay. Over there. It belongs to Thomas Stroud about this church. Okay. And that, there's some friends that were here last night. Sure. They are missionaries too. And they were using the house. So, Marie says she lives there. He's saying he wasn't even there. He's denying he ever. No, it's not. No, it's the, the. This is, this is. This is a house. So, this is, I don't believe this is a missionary house. It's not, it doesn't look like a missionary house. I can go and show you the house. It's not in Avenue. But, this is Avenue. This is, without a doubt, 100% over there. Yeah, that's him walking to the back. But, I cannot see him. Right. That's just him walking to the front. Yeah, but I cannot see his face. He's wearing the same clothes, the same glasses he has this evening, man. That's what we're trying to figure out. That's all. Can I see that video again? Sure. He looks like him. Man, she, she recognized him. That's how we were able to get here as soon as he did. Um, because we have a. Does she know him? Yes. She does. She, she knows him. That's how she was able to identify him. What's her last name? But. And that happened last night? This happened tonight. Tonight. In the last hour. The last couple nights, it sounds like. But, tonight is the night that we're, we're able to get out with him. Like, we went straight from there. From that house to here. And then we saw him pull off of Ford Avenue, come up and pass us. She described the vehicle that he drove. The vehicle that he drove is in the video. He's in the video. And then we see him get out here and he makes a brief phone call before entering inside. Okay. Um, so you're not aware of anything like this? No, I'm surprised that he's doing that. I don't know any of that. Has he, has he ever, and I'm not trying to pry into your marriage or anything, but has he ever been unfaithful? Do you have anything, anything like that where you've had issues with infidelity? Like the past or something? I know, I know it's uncomfortable to talk about, but my concern is, is that if this is like a, like some love affair thing, it makes a difference as opposed to if, if he's going to harm her or something like that. That makes a difference. So, has anything like that ever happened? How long have y'all been married? 17 years. 17 years. 18. 18 years. Okay. And does any, any of this surprise you or is this like, what's. I, I am surprised. I'm very, what is he doing there? It's, which, which is we're trying to figure out. I'm going to make a phone call to the victim and figure out if we need the car because we don't know if anything was taken. I'll return this back to him. You're, you're okay to go inside or hang out out here, but we're, we're probably going to be here for a little bit between talking to him and potentially looking into the vehicle to see if anything was taken. That's kind of a, one of the issues that we're running into now is that if it, if it was something that he, he was just going to do, he was going to do it. If he was going in there to take something or something like that, it's different. But, um, again, if he was going in there to hurt somebody, that is a very elevated charge and that's what we're trying to sort out. So, um, but if you have anything that you can help us out with in reference to trying to explain this or make heads over tails, because right now he's, we've shown him the video and he's like, he doesn't have anything to say. He's just quiet. So that's what he was quiet. He said, he said, well, I was initially, I told him, Hey, um, can you tell me why you were an eight? And, uh, I wasn't. And so you were, and I show him a video and he's like, I, I don't know. And he's like, he doesn't have anything to say. Did he say that it was him? No. So he's denying that he was ever there. He's like, I don't know. Yeah. Can I see the video again? Uh, so I don't have officer McLeod's passcode. I'll, I'll be right back. I'm gonna make a phone call and I'll be right back with you. Okay. So she's stating that this is all news to her. I'm going to call the female, the complainant. He admits to knowing Marie. He said that they used to go to church a long time ago together. He said he's known her for about 10 years and that he sexually assaulted her in the past. He's not saying that. No, no. But she said that. She said that. She said 2017. I mean, but he's got, it looks like almost identical glasses and everything. No, she, well, she ID'd him. Yeah. Well, he's, he's. He's one of the lead pastors for the Hispanic church for TRBC. Crazy. Then we can step over here. Yeah, let's do that. Hello? Hey, Marie. It's officer McLeod again. How are you? Hey, good. Hey, you're on speakerphone here with my partner, officer Harris. Okay. So we're, we're trying to figure out, um, if anything was taken and what the, I guess the motive is. Um, the motive for him doing this would be. I cannot even understand the motive. Um, so I don't think he would have taken anything. Even if it's like, if this is a sexual obsession, you don't think he may have taken underwear or articles of your clothing or anything? Cause what other reason, if he knows you're not home, what do you have to enter the house? That's the thing. Maybe it was that. Well, I'm not trying to. I, that's just something that I've seen in the past with when it comes to obsession or something like that. No, there was no other, um, there's no other motive. He wouldn't have, it wouldn't be to steal as far as motive. I think it is. It has to be sexual. It has to be something like that because there's, there is no other motive. Um, he's stalking. Okay. And he did this, uh, last night as well. Um, is it my understanding that right? Last night. Do you have, do you have, yeah. Can you resend that? Can you send those videos to, to officer McLeod, please? And I'm reference the last night. And you, you have, I just want to clarify, you have the video footage of him inside that residence as well, right? From the kitchen. Yes. Yes. Can you send that as well? That would be fantastic. Cause I'm assuming that's a pretty, that's a full body shot. Yes. Okay. So obviously, obviously you gave, you gave me his name, right? So from the video footage, you recognized him. Oh, absolutely. Okay. Um, there's a shoe and a bottle of water, other than that, um, has he, has he tried to contact you recently or anything like that? No, that's the, that's the crazy thing. I've had no contact with this guy, so I don't understand. I have not talked to him in, I guess that was the last time when he entered my, when I found it in my house, in my townhome, I believe that was like 2017. It, it, it really concerns me. Go ahead. That we've had no contact, like. Hey, I'll call you right back. Next time on Something Was Wrong. Sergio, this is a video of you inside Marie's kitchen. Boom. That's you with your phone light on, looking right at the camera, and then you go back downstairs. So here's your chance. Why? Like, what's the deal? Nothing? Nothing, sir. Okay. We said you're a pastor, so I won't lecture you on what the Word says. Because you already know what it says. Truth is truth, right? Correct. That's a peace that you've got to make between you and God, right? Correct. So, do with that what you will. If you don't want to talk to me about it, that's fine. But, obviously, I've got all the evidence I need. Thank you endlessly to every survivor, guest, and expert who has contributed to our community. We are eternally grateful for your bravery, energy, and time. Something Was Wrong is a Broken Cycle Media production created and produced by Tiffany Reese. Thank you to our incredible team. Associate Producer, Amy B. Chesler. Audio Engineer, Becca High. And Social Media Marketing Manager, Lauren Barkman. Special thanks to Sarah Stewart for our amazing Season 26. Artwork, Stephen Wack for ad audio editing, and our partners at Audioboom. 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