Officials: Church youth leader admits rape

A youth group leader at a Patchogue church admitted to raping a 12-year-old girl in May and knowing she was underage, Suffolk County prosecutors said Monday.

Juan Carlos Amaya, 30, a leader at the Iglesia Evangelica Refugio de Salvacion at 102 Railroad Ave., pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on two counts of rape at First District Court in Central Islip.

He was being held on a $500,000 bond, $250,000 cash bail, and was being represented by Legal Aid.

Fifth Squad detectives said Amaya took the girl to his home on Davidson Avenue in Bellport in May 2010 and raped her.

Detectives arrested Amaya at his home Sunday.

Prosecutors said Amaya admitted in writing he had sex with the girl and also admitted that at the time of the incident he knew she was underage. The criminal complaint filed in Suffolk County Court said the encounter happened "after she stated 'no' and that she was scared."

Amaya, an El Salvadoran national, is now being investigated for possible deportation by U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials, according to a document filed in Suffolk County Court.

He is due back in court Friday.

The parking lot for The Refugio De Salvacion church, a makeshift house of worship with a ramp for the disabled, was empty Monday and no one came to the door. A telephone call to the church was not answered Monday.

Attempts to contact Amaya were unsuccessful.

With Tania Lopez