Source: CNN

(CNN) — It would not be surprising for an associate pastor to pray with his parishioners.

But Jorge Juan Castro wound up preying on them instead, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Friday. He is accused of raping more than 20 women, many of whom are Spanish-speaking, undocumented immigrants.

The alleged abuse began in October 2004, shortly after Castro took a job as associate pastor at Las Buenas Nuevas Church in Norwalk, and continued until September 2012, the department said in a news release.

Castro was arrested last Friday at his home in Norwalk and was being held in Los Angeles County Jail in lieu of $2 million bail.

The allegations came to light when the women, ages 18 to 39, implicated Castro to a third party who then told detectives, authorities said.

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