70-year-old Texas pastor accused of sexually assaulting teen at gym

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70-year-old Reymundo Almaraz. The photo on the left is a surveillance image from the gym on the day of the alleged assault. Photo on the right is his Lubbock County mugshot.

LUBBOCK, Texas - A 70-year-old man has been arrested on sexual assault charges following an investigation into a June incident at a Lubbock gym involving a teenager, according to the Lubbock Police Department.

Lubbock pastor arrested

The backstory:

Reymundo Almaraz was taken into custody after multiple members of the public identified him as the suspect in the assault at the TruFit gym located near 82nd Street and Slide Road.

Police records show that officers were dispatched to the gym around 10 p.m. on June 30. When they arrived, investigators learned the victim, a 17-year-old male, was on his way to the hospital for treatment.

The teenager told investigators he was at the gym working out with his girlfriend when he went to the locker room to use the restroom. While waiting for a stall, the victim reported seeing Almaraz in his underwear, appearing to watch or record another teenager in the locker room.

According to the police report, the situation escalated after the victim entered a bathroom stall. Almaraz allegedly entered the adjacent stall, repeatedly placed his leg under the partition, and demanded to be let into the victim’s stall.

The victim told police that after he eventually exited the stall, Almaraz cornered him in a dressing room, blocked the door with a chair, and locked it. The report states Almaraz held the teenager in place, made several sexual demands, and sexually assaulted him.

Investigators say the victim attempted to resist, at which point Almaraz allegedly slammed the teenager against a bar in the dressing room and struck the boy’s knee with his own. The victim told police he eventually kicked Almaraz away, providing an opening to escape the room and run to the main gym area to find his girlfriend.

Authorities released details of the assault to the public shortly after the incident, leading to Almaraz's identification and subsequent arrest.

Almaraz was arrested on Thursday. He is no longer listed as being in the Lubbock County Detention Center.

According to a ministry leader at Emmanuel Worship Center in Lubbock, Alvaraz "retired some time in the summer." FOX Local has requested a statement from the church via email, but did not receive a written response.