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Pastor Charged After Affair With 16-Year-Old Parishioner

WEST ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- A 39-year-old pastor in West St. Paul has been charged after he admitted to having an affair with a 16-year-old parishioner of his church.

Gustaro Resendiz Talabera was charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of deprivation of custodial rights in connection to the affair.

According to the charges, the West St. Paul Police Department received a call regarding a juvenile runaway on Sept. 26. The child, who is 16, went missing after telling her parents she was sick and needed to miss school. Her parents said she was missing from home and noticed some of her personal items and clothing were also gone.

Before calling police, they said they were contacted by the wife of Gustaro Resendiz Talabera, who said she believed her husband and their daughter had run away together. She said her husband took about $3,000 cash out of their bank account and left in their green GMC vehicle.

Police later spoke with Talabera's son who talked to his father on the phone earlier that day. He said his father told him he was having an affair with a young woman from their church who might be pregnant. He told his son they were attempting to flee to Mexico together.

Police tracked the cell phones of Talabera and the girl to Chicago, where Talabera has relatives. They issued a nationwide warrant for Talabera's arrest and he was arrested Thursday in Joliet, Ill.

The 16-year-old girl was taken into protective custody.

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