McALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The trial for a pastor accused of sexually assaulting two unconscious women after injecting them with sedatives began Monday morning.
Melquisedec Chan is facing two counts of aggravated sexual assault and two counts of practicing medicine in violation of subtitle, according to Hidalgo County court records.
The trial is being held by 370th state District Court before judge Noe Gonzalez.
An indictment accuses Chan of sexually assaulting the woman after administering a substance that impaired the woman’s ability to “appraise the nature of the act or to resist the act.”
A probable cause affidavit states that on April 12, 2018, a McAllen police officer met with a woman who reported she had been sexually assaulted between July 2014 and February 2015 by her church pastor.
The woman said she was diagnosed with a tumor in 2012 and her pastor, identified as Chan, offered to help her because he was a practicing family doctor in Reynosa, the document states.
Chan would administer intravenous medication to help ease the pain. The woman said Chan told her the substance was vitamins and other medications that would make her feel better.
Chan continued treating the woman at the Vida Abundante Church in Alton before he started conducting regular house visits around July 2014. According to court documents, Chan would administer the medication to the woman in her bedroom, which caused her to fall asleep within 10 minutes. The woman said she would wake up three hours later and find that Chan had already left and the bedroom lights had been turned off.
The woman felt on several occasions that her underwear would be moved, or that her bra had been folded in. The woman told authorities she suspected that Chan was taking advantage of her and set up a pen camera in the bedroom to record the encounter.
The affidavit states that the pen camera was unable to obtain much video due to a limited memory capacity. The document continues by saying the woman recalled Chan kissing her neck area and breasts as she was under the influence of the medication before sexually assaulting her.
The woman stated she confronted Chan and said she knew what he was doing to her, to which he ceased all contact with her.
On April 16, 2018, detectives followed up with the woman who provided her statement detailing the incidents, as well as the video she obtained on Feb. 24, 2015, showing Chan in her bedroom checking if she was still conscious.
The woman said she got the courage to speak up after learning that Chan was arrested after another member of the church said she was sexually assaulted after being sedated as well.
On April 19, 2018, detectives followed up with Chan at the McAllen Police Station where he said he was sorry. In a recording with an Edinburg detective, Chan admitted to having an “acercamiento fisico,” which translates to a physical approach, the affidavit states.
When asked to elaborate on this, he said it was the same as his interaction with another woman, who was the victim in the Edinburg case.
Chan was booked into the Hidalgo County Jail initially on April 12 for the Edinburg case and his bond was set at $220,000. He faced an additional two charges out of McAllen, which added an additional $120,000 to the bond amount.
