Preview
FILED: SUFFOLK COUNTY CLERK 03/28/2024 11:28 PM INDEX NO. 608615/2023
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/28/2024
EXHIBIT C
FILED: SUFFOLK COUNTY CLERK 03/28/2024 11:28 PM INDEX NO. 608615/2023
NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/28/2024
SPANISH PENTICOSTAL CHURCH OF GOD PATCHOUGE OF THE ASSEMBLIES OF GOD
November 29, 2022
Extraordinary Meeting with Superintendent of the Assemblies of God, Spanish Eastern District, Rev Manuel A Alvarez,
because of the request made by Church Trustees, requesting for an intervention on the part of the District, have requested
(as per constitution article IX Prohibitions and Dissolution section 3, page 9) in writing, dated Nov 8, 2022. (see letter
attached dated November 08, 2022)
Parties Present at this extraordinary meeting:
Reverend Manuel Alvarez, Superintendent of the Assemblies of God Eastern Hispanic District Presbyter of Long Island,
Reverend Salcedo
Zone 2 Long Island Supervisor, Rev Osvaldo Rodriguez.
Pastor of the Hispanic Pentecostal Church of Patchogue, Pastor Javier Feliciano
Trustees of the Hispanic Pentecostal Church of Patchogue, Jorge Flores, VP of the Board, Maria Sáez, Treasurer, Madelyne
Cracchiolo, Secretary, Mauricio Macas Sub-treasurer, Ilia Torres Sub-secretary, Wilfredo Soto Member.
Superintendent takes leadership of the meeting, and meeting begins at 7:30 PM EST.
Superintendent presents to us, why they have been called to attend this (board of inquiry) meeting as requested in writing
by the trustees of the Church Board. (as per constitution article IX Prohibitions and Dissolution section 3, page 9)
Other reasons why the District can or should act, is when and if the pastor calls them, or if the board takes vote of half plus
one, (50% + 1) in this case it was the majority vote of the board, we all signed the petition for the district intervention and
join the board of inquiry.
The other way is that members can also request a request for intervention from the district.
The Superintendent tells Pastor Feliciano that during this meeting, he will have the opportunity to express his point of view
on the reasons presented by the Board of Trustees.
The points to discuss are:
Moral issues, demonstrating a pattern of past decisions. Administrative Irregularities and Lack of Growth.
Two events, and the board may remind you, in which there were two events of sexual abuse by the same person (accused)
towards two different victims. In this case, each case is referred to as case (a and b).
In the first case presented, the case of the son of the Bello family is presented. Where the results were that this family was
asked to leave the Church, yet this family had a good testimony and were actively serving in the church, such as Bible
school teacher, usher president, translator. in the second case, the victim's mother was asked by Pastor Feliciano to
church.'
remain silent 'for the good of the
It is clarified that the case is not generally known to the current membership.
in the other case, if it is more recent than it was made known among several leaders in a meeting that took place during
this month of November. is it presented because this is relevant? Because these events are (spiritual) chains that must be
broken as expressed by the trustees, after several years have passed and the truth is known, no type of apology has been
presented on the part of the pastor both towards the Bello family and to Sister llia Torres. At this point, the Bello family
still feels burdened by that time in their lives and the way they were asked to leave the church. The board therefore
requests a time of reflection and retraining (guidance) for Pastor Feliciano.
The superintendent presents to the Pastor that the accused, Junior Estevez, is still present in the Church facilities and doing
work in the Church as an electrician, a person who is receiving money for services, but (in awareness) that he is a child
molester. The superintendent expresses that this is an alarming condition with this individual being in Church facilities.
The Superintendent gives the floor to the pastor wanting to hear how he responds to this observation made by the
trustees.
Pastor Feliciano says that this case was an accusation by an individual, who was detained for a few days, he says he does
not remember well and for him this is a surprise. He had several dates with court and lawyers. He was never imprisoned. in
the end, no charges were taken, Pastor Feliciano says he is aware of the case that happened with Sister Ilia's son. He says
voluntarily."
he never asked him to be quiet. He never asked her-. If she did what she did, she "did it Superintendent says
that sister Ilia stated that she was asked to remain silent. Pastor Feliciano says that is not correct. Pastor Feliciano says that
Sister llia personally decided to do it, she personally decided to remain silent and not say anything, but he didn't ask (her to
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do) that.
The Superintendent gives the floor to Sister Ilia who tells the Pastor, "you said it, that for the well-being of the Church it
happened."
should remain like this, because nothing had (been done about it)
Pastor Feliciano asks why she waited fifteen years to speak, why now? Sister Ilia answers that because in the last meeting,
in which the same question that Rev Salcedo was asked, and the same answer was be given. That in this last meeting,
Pastor Feliciano, knowing her integrity and the silence she kept on many matters, in that meeting the pastor allowed her to
be accused with falsehoods and turned his back on her, as if he did not know her, when he knows, and that was what she
forced him to say, because she has always had the pastor's back and preferred that the church not be tainted. That he did
ask her to stay silent on the matter.
The pastor maintains that he did not ask that of sister Ilia, and that he never asked for silence. He never maid that request.
Sister Ilia then says it's basically her word against his. The pastor emphasizes to her that she kept silent by her own will and
waited fifteen years....
The superintendent instructed Pastor Feliciano, "And you, Pastor, are surprised by someone waiting 15 years, when in the
state of NY, they are asking people if something happened 50 years ago? Pastor Feliciano tells him, well yes, but bring it to
light 15 years later? The Superintendent tells him that he is saying why he waited. The superintendent tells Pastor Feliciano
that this is something strong, to which the Pastor tells him, no, this is not strong, because the matter had never been
talked about, they had always worked in peace in the Church, and he does not know the reason. why this is brought, and
that he never asked her for that.
Rev Osvaldo Rodriguez asked, how did he handle the matter? What was going through his mind? The pastor said that he
invited Brother Nicanor Gonzalez to bring a conference to the Church. As far as he remembers, he says that Dr. Nicanor
says that the pastor did the right thing by bringing in a professional person to deal with this in the Church.
Brother Flores asks Rev Rodriguez if his question was whether he had called the police? Rev Rodriguez says nothing
specific, just in general how he had reacted to the event. The Pastor says that he had called the police, Brother Flores asks
if he called the police in the case of Sister Ilia's son, to which the pastor responds that he did not call the police. Pastor
clarifies that in the other case, that of the Bello family, the family was the one who called the police without consulting
him, they took him to the police, when he realized it, the police had already arrived and arrested the man.
The Superintendent tells him, is that the same man who walks around the temple? Did you know that? Well, says Pastor
Feliciano, after this happened, he does the work of an electrician.
The Superintendent tells him emphatically, but the question is, did he do what he did and is the pastor inviting him to work
in the temple? Where does that fit (in your) mind? When and where does that look good? If a person has committed
something that caused them to lose two families... and those children are no longer children, they are adults who are
suffering the consequence, and they can sue, because the statutes of limitations allow that not only can a lawsuit be filed
to him as pastor, but also to the church and even to the general council itself, to investigate what happened, that is the
reality today. And when doing this investigation and it is found out that this person still has access to the temple, even
though he has not come to the temple, it is logical, that if there is someone who has done something like that, even if God
forgives him and becomes a member of another church, he cannot be allowed to do those jobs. The pastor responds that
the fact that the accused of sexual child abuse was in the church facilities was a while ago, a little job... a long time ago, but
apart from that, he doesn't even visit the church. The superintendent tells Pastor Feliciano, let's be honest, this individual
was in the church these same days, in question, correct? Maria says, today the superintendent says, who authorized that
person to enter the temple? Pastor Feliciano tells you today, today I needed an electrician, the reason was that there was
someone, that the trustees, that someone entered the church to remove some cameras and when removing them caused
a short circuit and that is why the cameras have not been working well since that time. The superintendent tells him, I
understand that there were electrical problems that had to be solved, but why should the person accused of abuse have
been the one you called? Pastor Feliciano responds that because there is no other electrician there who can do it. The
superintendent tells him, isn't there another one? That is not true brother, if he goes to the list of electricians in the yellow
pages... the pastor says, well, possibly I made a mistake, the superintendent responds that you know that this could harm
you? Nothing more to answer that way? in a court... Why are you being an accomplice, are you seeing yourself that way, if
someone has done something so serious, do you consider that abusing a child is not serious? That a person, a child, is
introduced to masturbation and other things that he suffers today with pornography or because of that individual. That,
because of the trust that you knew, you were introduced to that person and that can happen, but today you can see that
you did not care. if it had mattered to you, you do not invite or give work to someone like that to be around the temple,
because that can cause pain to a mother. Because he will always find out, because today it happened and today, he knew
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it, and this was not going to be part of the meeting, but everything works for the good because this is incorrect. He tells her
that she can't call that person anymore.
Pastor Feliciano answers, surely not, he says it will not happen again. That he can't be called anymore.
Superintendent asks if there is anything else that needs to be said about all this, board? Sister Ilia presents that some
leaders have a version that the Bello Brothers had apologized to the abuser for slander when this is not true, they never
apologized or slandered the abuser, they have requested that his name be cleared, and the Sister Ilia requests to be able to
show them a video that the Bello family provided to her to clear her name. The dialogue evolves again because after 15
years this comes to light, Sister Ilia reminds him that in the meeting with the leaders, her testimony was questioned when
the pastor's wife accused her, Sister Ilia had made fun of her and had humiliated her without this being true. Even Sister
Ilia at that moment asked Pastor Feliciano that he knows her and that she would not do that, and he remained silent. He
didn't know her. Sister Madelyne, Secretary, also states that she also received the same accusation from his wife, that she
had also made fun of her without truth. And when the pastor was given the opportunity to defend the sisters, he said
nothing, instead of saying something conciliatory such as that he knows the sisters and there must be some
misunderstanding, being given the opportunity and remaining silent is as if he were affirming the wife's accusations
towards these sisters. If they are saying something against upright people, it must be defended.
Pastor Feliciano says that there have been certain differences (ill feelings) with his wife. Citing that the trustees have not
wanted to accept her, even according to the pastor, the trustees saying that she had to wait two years to be able to
participate in a meeting, but for this she does not apply to the pastor's wife and the trustees are standing here. Comment:
trustees'
Trustees were referring to board of meetings, not general meetings with any of the ministries. But the
superintendent asks him, but a Board meeting? Let's say this group, is the wife a member of the board? She tells him that
she doesn't. The Pastor is asked what are the expectations of the wife? Pastor Feliciano says that he presented to the
trustees to have the wife at the board meeting, to which the trustees said no.
The superintendent says that if this is not in the constitution, an amendment would have to be made. Because she is new,
she must use wisdom, be wise, not impose herself. She must handle herself wisely, especially since they are newlyweds.
She must use wisdom, not impose herself, because Helping is helping him. She is the pastor's wife; she helps in his
delegation. But the board is other minds, the leaders are other, and they may have different opinions.
Mentions (made) decisions made that are later changed. You (must) have to take them as a team. And here the issue is
that he needs the support and respect of being able to work with people he knows, whom he has even known longer than
his own wife.
The superintendent presents the case that the pastor sent the photo to the leaders of where this meeting was
going to be held. This meeting is confidential and involves only leaders present. When they knew, those leaders were
injected with something negative. Right now, we must pick up the pieces, because you are effectively dividing the church.
Pastor Feliciano denies doing that. The Superintendent tells him that he must cancel the meeting that he is thinking of
having with the leaders after this meeting ends. Because that's what the superintendent is hearing. Pastor Feliciano says
that he is not going to have any meetings. The superintendent tells him that he has evidence here, that Pastor Feliciano
himself wrote, that after this meeting with us he is going back to the church. Pastor Feliciano tells him, well, I wrote that
I am going back to church, but I am not going to have a meeting. The superintendent tells him, "I am going to inform you
meeting,"
of the outcome of this and offers the pastor if he wants him to read the rest of the text that the pastor wrote,
the pastor says that it is not necessary. The superintendent says he wants to find a solution to all of this.
The superintendent moves on to the 2nd point, financial and administrative matters.
It is presented to him that he was chosen as pastor of the church, not as the owner of the church.
The superintendent asks the pastor how he sees the Church. The Pastor defines what the Institution of the Church is for
him. It is presented to the pastor that the Church papers must be only in the name of the Church corporation, IRS, EIN,
bank number, bank Accounts, for reasons of transparency, so there is no suspicion of any conflict of interest and closes the
possibilities of any type of fraud. For this same reason, all correspondence must be addressed and delivered by US Mail to
the Church address. You cannot have a PO box where this type of correspondence is received. He understands that this has
been done for years. Pastor Feliciano says yes, this has been done for years. The superintendent asks, who has access to
the PO Box? Pastor Feliciano says that only him. That a few years before there was another person who also had access,
the superintendent asks him if it was someone from the board? The Pastor says no to which the superintendent tells him
that that is not correct, that he has to be someone from the board.
The church has had this property with its own address, before he arrived in the 1970's, it had an address, but no mailbox.
Recently, due to the pandemic, they put up a mailbox. The superintendent tells him that the mail has to arrive at the
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church. The pastor says he had no knowledge of it. If there is a PO Box, only the pastor cannot have access. To keep
testimony, you need keys to give to the secretary and the treasurer, at least those two people.
The 31st of last month will have been the last day, the pastor says that he is going to close it.
The superintendent says that transparency is essential, and the indicated protocol must be followed. in any IRS
investigation they will have the pastor, treasurer, and secretary responsible.
The pastor says that in the next meeting that he was going to have with us, he wanted to recommend that there
be an accountant for the Church, because we do not have an accountant. The superintendent tells him that this is
something that has always been recommended to the churches in the district. The Pastor says that he even spoke to
someone and that person told him that because of our size it was not really necessary to have an accountant. The
superintendent tells him that that person gave him bad advice, since the accountant is the person who can help him with
financial reports, and these can be public. For example, the superintendent says that he was a pastor of a church for more
than 25 years and he left copies of the financial statements in the church so that the visitors could see them, because it is
good for the visitors to see what is done in the church. and let them think that this is the church where I want to
congregate because nothing is hidden.
The irregularity arises that there must be at least two signatures on all the checks that the church writes. Pastor plus
general treasurer, therefore she presents transparency with the finances of the flock. Samples are presented where there
was only one signature. The pastor presents that those checks only have a signature because Sister Ilia had resigned.
and they didn't have a treasurer, and it was also because of COVID. And while they were waiting for her to return, he had
to sign the checks alone. To which the superintendent also tells him that he sees in the copies of the checks that the
trustees presented to him, another signature of another person who is not authorized to sign the checks. Rosita Alterio is
the name. Pastor Feliciano confirms and says that Sister Rosita Alterio has been a pillar in the Church for years, a
deaconess of the church... The superintendent clarifies, but is she a signatory of the account? It's not that she is a pillar,
she can have 100 pillars, but is Sister Rosita Alterio authorized to sign checks, yes or no? Pastor Feliciano says, well...no, at
the bank she is not authorized to sign. The superintendent emphasizes to him that that is why the trustees report this as an
irregularity and that he himself sees this as an irregularity. Pastor Feliciano tells her, well, let me explain, that year Sister
Ilia was sick, and she could not serve as treasurer. The superintendent tells him, 1 understand that Pastor, but if I as Pastor,
as president of the Board, have a problem, I am missing a signature, I cannot sign alone on the check, we must assign
someone from here, because there is a sub-treasurer. The pastor tries to justify this by saying that currently the Sister
Treasurer is following the same process and proceeds to say that currently he wanted there to be three people to sign,
him, Sister Sáez and Brother Flores, but when he approached Brother Flores , Brother Flores said that he would not want
his signature to be there, since he is very busy with his work and may not be able to continue as a trustee of the Church.
Brother Flores confirms that he said that. The Superintendent tells him, but I imagine that not all trustees are in the same
position as Brother Flores. Sister Ilia points out that at the time when Sister Ilia was treasurer, Brother Wilfredo Soto was
the sub-treasurer, and the pastor did not go with him to get the signature.
The superintendent tells him that if this goes beyond our hands, that Pastor Feliciano will look bad, because what they
present to him is wrong and he wants to make sure that Pastor Feliciano understands that this is wrong, and ask for
forgiveness from this together, because apart from that, there are checks that have no name, that are in cash,
Preview
FILED: SUFFOLK COUNTY CLERK 03/28/2024 11:28 PM INDEX NO. 608615/2023 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/28/2024 EXHIBIT C FILED: SUFFOLK COUNTY CLERK 03/28/2024 11:28 PM INDEX NO. 608615/2023 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/28/2024 SPANISH PENTICOSTAL CHURCH OF GOD PATCHOUGE OF THE ASSEMBLIES OF GOD November 29, 2022 Extraordinary Meeting with Superintendent of the Assemblies of God, Spanish Eastern District, Rev Manuel A Alvarez, because of the request made by Church Trustees, requesting for an intervention on the part of the District, have requested (as per constitution article IX Prohibitions and Dissolution section 3, page 9) in writing, dated Nov 8, 2022. (see letter attached dated November 08, 2022) Parties Present at this extraordinary meeting: Reverend Manuel Alvarez, Superintendent of the Assemblies of God Eastern Hispanic District Presbyter of Long Island, Reverend Salcedo Zone 2 Long Island Supervisor, Rev Osvaldo Rodriguez. Pastor of the Hispanic Pentecostal Church of Patchogue, Pastor Javier Feliciano Trustees of the Hispanic Pentecostal Church of Patchogue, Jorge Flores, VP of the Board, Maria Sáez, Treasurer, Madelyne Cracchiolo, Secretary, Mauricio Macas Sub-treasurer, Ilia Torres Sub-secretary, Wilfredo Soto Member. Superintendent takes leadership of the meeting, and meeting begins at 7:30 PM EST. Superintendent presents to us, why they have been called to attend this (board of inquiry) meeting as requested in writing by the trustees of the Church Board. (as per constitution article IX Prohibitions and Dissolution section 3, page 9) Other reasons why the District can or should act, is when and if the pastor calls them, or if the board takes vote of half plus one, (50% + 1) in this case it was the majority vote of the board, we all signed the petition for the district intervention and join the board of inquiry. The other way is that members can also request a request for intervention from the district. The Superintendent tells Pastor Feliciano that during this meeting, he will have the opportunity to express his point of view on the reasons presented by the Board of Trustees. The points to discuss are: Moral issues, demonstrating a pattern of past decisions. Administrative Irregularities and Lack of Growth. Two events, and the board may remind you, in which there were two events of sexual abuse by the same person (accused) towards two different victims. In this case, each case is referred to as case (a and b). In the first case presented, the case of the son of the Bello family is presented. Where the results were that this family was asked to leave the Church, yet this family had a good testimony and were actively serving in the church, such as Bible school teacher, usher president, translator. in the second case, the victim's mother was asked by Pastor Feliciano to church.' remain silent 'for the good of the It is clarified that the case is not generally known to the current membership. in the other case, if it is more recent than it was made known among several leaders in a meeting that took place during this month of November. is it presented because this is relevant? Because these events are (spiritual) chains that must be broken as expressed by the trustees, after several years have passed and the truth is known, no type of apology has been presented on the part of the pastor both towards the Bello family and to Sister llia Torres. At this point, the Bello family still feels burdened by that time in their lives and the way they were asked to leave the church. The board therefore requests a time of reflection and retraining (guidance) for Pastor Feliciano. The superintendent presents to the Pastor that the accused, Junior Estevez, is still present in the Church facilities and doing work in the Church as an electrician, a person who is receiving money for services, but (in awareness) that he is a child molester. The superintendent expresses that this is an alarming condition with this individual being in Church facilities. The Superintendent gives the floor to the pastor wanting to hear how he responds to this observation made by the trustees. Pastor Feliciano says that this case was an accusation by an individual, who was detained for a few days, he says he does not remember well and for him this is a surprise. He had several dates with court and lawyers. He was never imprisoned. in the end, no charges were taken, Pastor Feliciano says he is aware of the case that happened with Sister Ilia's son. He says voluntarily." he never asked him to be quiet. He never asked her-. If she did what she did, she "did it Superintendent says that sister Ilia stated that she was asked to remain silent. Pastor Feliciano says that is not correct. Pastor Feliciano says that Sister llia personally decided to do it, she personally decided to remain silent and not say anything, but he didn't ask (her to Page 1 of 14 FILED: SUFFOLK COUNTY CLERK 03/28/2024 11:28 PM INDEX NO. 608615/2023 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/28/2024 do) that. The Superintendent gives the floor to Sister Ilia who tells the Pastor, "you said it, that for the well-being of the Church it happened." should remain like this, because nothing had (been done about it) Pastor Feliciano asks why she waited fifteen years to speak, why now? Sister Ilia answers that because in the last meeting, in which the same question that Rev Salcedo was asked, and the same answer was be given. That in this last meeting, Pastor Feliciano, knowing her integrity and the silence she kept on many matters, in that meeting the pastor allowed her to be accused with falsehoods and turned his back on her, as if he did not know her, when he knows, and that was what she forced him to say, because she has always had the pastor's back and preferred that the church not be tainted. That he did ask her to stay silent on the matter. The pastor maintains that he did not ask that of sister Ilia, and that he never asked for silence. He never maid that request. Sister Ilia then says it's basically her word against his. The pastor emphasizes to her that she kept silent by her own will and waited fifteen years.... The superintendent instructed Pastor Feliciano, "And you, Pastor, are surprised by someone waiting 15 years, when in the state of NY, they are asking people if something happened 50 years ago? Pastor Feliciano tells him, well yes, but bring it to light 15 years later? The Superintendent tells him that he is saying why he waited. The superintendent tells Pastor Feliciano that this is something strong, to which the Pastor tells him, no, this is not strong, because the matter had never been talked about, they had always worked in peace in the Church, and he does not know the reason. why this is brought, and that he never asked her for that. Rev Osvaldo Rodriguez asked, how did he handle the matter? What was going through his mind? The pastor said that he invited Brother Nicanor Gonzalez to bring a conference to the Church. As far as he remembers, he says that Dr. Nicanor says that the pastor did the right thing by bringing in a professional person to deal with this in the Church. Brother Flores asks Rev Rodriguez if his question was whether he had called the police? Rev Rodriguez says nothing specific, just in general how he had reacted to the event. The Pastor says that he had called the police, Brother Flores asks if he called the police in the case of Sister Ilia's son, to which the pastor responds that he did not call the police. Pastor clarifies that in the other case, that of the Bello family, the family was the one who called the police without consulting him, they took him to the police, when he realized it, the police had already arrived and arrested the man. The Superintendent tells him, is that the same man who walks around the temple? Did you know that? Well, says Pastor Feliciano, after this happened, he does the work of an electrician. The Superintendent tells him emphatically, but the question is, did he do what he did and is the pastor inviting him to work in the temple? Where does that fit (in your) mind? When and where does that look good? If a person has committed something that caused them to lose two families... and those children are no longer children, they are adults who are suffering the consequence, and they can sue, because the statutes of limitations allow that not only can a lawsuit be filed to him as pastor, but also to the church and even to the general council itself, to investigate what happened, that is the reality today. And when doing this investigation and it is found out that this person still has access to the temple, even though he has not come to the temple, it is logical, that if there is someone who has done something like that, even if God forgives him and becomes a member of another church, he cannot be allowed to do those jobs. The pastor responds that the fact that the accused of sexual child abuse was in the church facilities was a while ago, a little job... a long time ago, but apart from that, he doesn't even visit the church. The superintendent tells Pastor Feliciano, let's be honest, this individual was in the church these same days, in question, correct? Maria says, today the superintendent says, who authorized that person to enter the temple? Pastor Feliciano tells you today, today I needed an electrician, the reason was that there was someone, that the trustees, that someone entered the church to remove some cameras and when removing them caused a short circuit and that is why the cameras have not been working well since that time. The superintendent tells him, I understand that there were electrical problems that had to be solved, but why should the person accused of abuse have been the one you called? Pastor Feliciano responds that because there is no other electrician there who can do it. The superintendent tells him, isn't there another one? That is not true brother, if he goes to the list of electricians in the yellow pages... the pastor says, well, possibly I made a mistake, the superintendent responds that you know that this could harm you? Nothing more to answer that way? in a court... Why are you being an accomplice, are you seeing yourself that way, if someone has done something so serious, do you consider that abusing a child is not serious? That a person, a child, is introduced to masturbation and other things that he suffers today with pornography or because of that individual. That, because of the trust that you knew, you were introduced to that person and that can happen, but today you can see that you did not care. if it had mattered to you, you do not invite or give work to someone like that to be around the temple, because that can cause pain to a mother. Because he will always find out, because today it happened and today, he knew Page 2 of 14 FILED: SUFFOLK COUNTY CLERK 03/28/2024 11:28 PM INDEX NO. 608615/2023 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/28/2024 it, and this was not going to be part of the meeting, but everything works for the good because this is incorrect. He tells her that she can't call that person anymore. Pastor Feliciano answers, surely not, he says it will not happen again. That he can't be called anymore. Superintendent asks if there is anything else that needs to be said about all this, board? Sister Ilia presents that some leaders have a version that the Bello Brothers had apologized to the abuser for slander when this is not true, they never apologized or slandered the abuser, they have requested that his name be cleared, and the Sister Ilia requests to be able to show them a video that the Bello family provided to her to clear her name. The dialogue evolves again because after 15 years this comes to light, Sister Ilia reminds him that in the meeting with the leaders, her testimony was questioned when the pastor's wife accused her, Sister Ilia had made fun of her and had humiliated her without this being true. Even Sister Ilia at that moment asked Pastor Feliciano that he knows her and that she would not do that, and he remained silent. He didn't know her. Sister Madelyne, Secretary, also states that she also received the same accusation from his wife, that she had also made fun of her without truth. And when the pastor was given the opportunity to defend the sisters, he said nothing, instead of saying something conciliatory such as that he knows the sisters and there must be some misunderstanding, being given the opportunity and remaining silent is as if he were affirming the wife's accusations towards these sisters. If they are saying something against upright people, it must be defended. Pastor Feliciano says that there have been certain differences (ill feelings) with his wife. Citing that the trustees have not wanted to accept her, even according to the pastor, the trustees saying that she had to wait two years to be able to participate in a meeting, but for this she does not apply to the pastor's wife and the trustees are standing here. Comment: trustees' Trustees were referring to board of meetings, not general meetings with any of the ministries. But the superintendent asks him, but a Board meeting? Let's say this group, is the wife a member of the board? She tells him that she doesn't. The Pastor is asked what are the expectations of the wife? Pastor Feliciano says that he presented to the trustees to have the wife at the board meeting, to which the trustees said no. The superintendent says that if this is not in the constitution, an amendment would have to be made. Because she is new, she must use wisdom, be wise, not impose herself. She must handle herself wisely, especially since they are newlyweds. She must use wisdom, not impose herself, because Helping is helping him. She is the pastor's wife; she helps in his delegation. But the board is other minds, the leaders are other, and they may have different opinions. Mentions (made) decisions made that are later changed. You (must) have to take them as a team. And here the issue is that he needs the support and respect of being able to work with people he knows, whom he has even known longer than his own wife. The superintendent presents the case that the pastor sent the photo to the leaders of where this meeting was going to be held. This meeting is confidential and involves only leaders present. When they knew, those leaders were injected with something negative. Right now, we must pick up the pieces, because you are effectively dividing the church. Pastor Feliciano denies doing that. The Superintendent tells him that he must cancel the meeting that he is thinking of having with the leaders after this meeting ends. Because that's what the superintendent is hearing. Pastor Feliciano says that he is not going to have any meetings. The superintendent tells him that he has evidence here, that Pastor Feliciano himself wrote, that after this meeting with us he is going back to the church. Pastor Feliciano tells him, well, I wrote that I am going back to church, but I am not going to have a meeting. The superintendent tells him, "I am going to inform you meeting," of the outcome of this and offers the pastor if he wants him to read the rest of the text that the pastor wrote, the pastor says that it is not necessary. The superintendent says he wants to find a solution to all of this. The superintendent moves on to the 2nd point, financial and administrative matters. It is presented to him that he was chosen as pastor of the church, not as the owner of the church. The superintendent asks the pastor how he sees the Church. The Pastor defines what the Institution of the Church is for him. It is presented to the pastor that the Church papers must be only in the name of the Church corporation, IRS, EIN, bank number, bank Accounts, for reasons of transparency, so there is no suspicion of any conflict of interest and closes the possibilities of any type of fraud. For this same reason, all correspondence must be addressed and delivered by US Mail to the Church address. You cannot have a PO box where this type of correspondence is received. He understands that this has been done for years. Pastor Feliciano says yes, this has been done for years. The superintendent asks, who has access to the PO Box? Pastor Feliciano says that only him. That a few years before there was another person who also had access, the superintendent asks him if it was someone from the board? The Pastor says no to which the superintendent tells him that that is not correct, that he has to be someone from the board. The church has had this property with its own address, before he arrived in the 1970's, it had an address, but no mailbox. Recently, due to the pandemic, they put up a mailbox. The superintendent tells him that the mail has to arrive at the Page 3 of 14 FILED: SUFFOLK COUNTY CLERK 03/28/2024 11:28 PM INDEX NO. 608615/2023 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 67 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 03/28/2024 church. The pastor says he had no knowledge of it. If there is a PO Box, only the pastor cannot have access. To keep testimony, you need keys to give to the secretary and the treasurer, at least those two people. The 31st of last month will have been the last day, the pastor says that he is going to close it. The superintendent says that transparency is essential, and the indicated protocol must be followed. in any IRS investigation they will have the pastor, treasurer, and secretary responsible. The pastor says that in the next meeting that he was going to have with us, he wanted to recommend that there be an accountant for the Church, because we do not have an accountant. The superintendent tells him that this is something that has always been recommended to the churches in the district. The Pastor says that he even spoke to someone and that person told him that because of our size it was not really necessary to have an accountant. The superintendent tells him that that person gave him bad advice, since the accountant is the person who can help him with financial reports, and these can be public. For example, the superintendent says that he was a pastor of a church for more than 25 years and he left copies of the financial statements in the church so that the visitors could see them, because it is good for the visitors to see what is done in the church. and let them think that this is the church where I want to congregate because nothing is hidden. The irregularity arises that there must be at least two signatures on all the checks that the church writes. Pastor plus general treasurer, therefore she presents transparency with the finances of the flock. Samples are presented where there was only one signature. The pastor presents that those checks only have a signature because Sister Ilia had resigned. and they didn't have a treasurer, and it was also because of COVID. And while they were waiting for her to return, he had to sign the checks alone. To which the superintendent also tells him that he sees in the copies of the checks that the trustees presented to him, another signature of another person who is not authorized to sign the checks. Rosita Alterio is the name. Pastor Feliciano confirms and says that Sister Rosita Alterio has been a pillar in the Church for years, a deaconess of the church... The superintendent clarifies, but is she a signatory of the account? It's not that she is a pillar, she can have 100 pillars, but is Sister Rosita Alterio authorized to sign checks, yes or no? Pastor Feliciano says, well...no, at the bank she is not authorized to sign. The superintendent emphasizes to him that that is why the trustees report this as an irregularity and that he himself sees this as an irregularity. Pastor Feliciano tells her, well, let me explain, that year Sister Ilia was sick, and she could not serve as treasurer. The superintendent tells him, 1 understand that Pastor, but if I as Pastor, as president of the Board, have a problem, I am missing a signature, I cannot sign alone on the check, we must assign someone from here, because there is a sub-treasurer. The pastor tries to justify this by saying that currently the Sister Treasurer is following the same process and proceeds to say that currently he wanted there to be three people to sign, him, Sister Sáez and Brother Flores, but when he approached Brother Flores , Brother Flores said that he would not want his signature to be there, since he is very busy with his work and may not be able to continue as a trustee of the Church. Brother Flores confirms that he said that. The Superintendent tells him, but I imagine that not all trustees are in the same position as Brother Flores. Sister Ilia points out that at the time when Sister Ilia was treasurer, Brother Wilfredo Soto was the sub-treasurer, and the pastor did not go with him to get the signature. The superintendent tells him that if this goes beyond our hands, that Pastor Feliciano will look bad, because what they present to him is wrong and he wants to make sure that Pastor Feliciano understands that this is wrong, and ask for forgiveness from this together, because apart from that, there are checks that have no name, that are in cash,