Former Calexico pastor sentenced

WESTMINSTER – An Orange County judge has sentenced a man who served in the 1980s as a pastor in Calexico to 15 years to life in prison for molesting seven girls over a period of 14 years.

John Rodgers McFarland, 68, of Fullerton pleaded guilty Friday to 13 felony sexual offenses involving girls from 5 to 15 years of age, according to a report in the Orange County Register. Those charges were five counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a minor younger than 14, four counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a minor, and four counts of lewd acts on a child 14 or 15.

As part of the plea deal, six more sentences of 15 years to life and six additional years behind bars will all run concurrently, the Register said.

McFarland was head pastor at Orangethorpe United Methodist Church in Fullerton from 2016 until his arrest in May 2019. He also served as a volunteer chaplain for the Fountain Valley Police Department and Fountain Valley Fire Department, according to a release issued by the Orange County District Attorney.

He was a pastor at Surf City Church in Huntington Beach between 2011 and 2016, and served as senior pastor at Fountain Valley United Methodist Church for 26 years from 1988 to 2016, the release said. He served as a youth pastor at the San Dieguito Methodist Church in Encinitas from 1978 to 1981 and attended Christian youth camps during his ministry there.

McFarland’s first appointment as senior pastor was at Calexico United Methodist Church, where he served from 1981 to 1988.