80-year old Douglas Whinery of Tustin, California was arrested last week and on charged on Tuesday. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office said Whinery was charged with sexually assaulting a 10-year-old and an 80-year-old girl.
If convicted of the charges, Whinery could face a 100 year to life sentence. He faces four felony counts of lewd acts upon a child under the age of 14, two felony counts of oral copulation or sexual penetration with a child 10 years or younger, and his sentence can be enhanced if found guilty of committing lewd acts on multiple victims.
Prosecutors say Whinery is a missionary who is active at Olive Crest Church in Santa Ana, Foothill Family Church in Foothill Ranch, and Grace Church in Yorba Linda. He is the founder of Wings of Faith Ministries, which flies supplies to missionaries deployed to Native American Indian reservations in remote places.
Whinery is accused of assaulting the two young girls on multiple occasions between November 7, 2011 and March 28, 2016. He approached the two young girls in a park in November 2011 and befriended them and their family members. Soon their family trusted him enough to take the victims to school, have them spend the night in his home and attend church with him.
The youngest victim told a family member about the sexual assaults on March 28. The relative reported it to the Tustin police who arrested him March 30.
