For decades, a well-respected spiritual figure in Belize built his reputation as a trusted source of guidance, moral leadership, and community support. Now, that legacy lies in ruins, after a senior court handed down a severe prison sentence that closes one of the most high-profile religious abuse cases in the country’s recent history.
On Thursday, Belize’s High Court sentenced 67-year-old Victor Wagner Hernandez, the former president of the National Evangelical Association of Belize, to 10 years of imprisonment following his conviction on three separate sexual offense charges: two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.
The crimes were committed over a six-year period, between 2015 and 2021, while Hernandez was serving as a pastor at the Toledo Faith Outreach Christian Center in Punta Gorda. The victim, a 35-year-old woman who had approached Hernandez seeking spiritual and personal counseling, first came forward to file her official complaint with authorities in 2024, years after the abuse began.
During the weeks-long trial, the woman delivered tearful, detailed testimony that detailed not only the repeated abuse she suffered at the hands of the powerful pastor, but also the threats she endured that kept her silent for years. Presiding High Court Justice Antoinette Moore ultimately ruled that the woman’s account was entirely credible, and found Hernandez guilty on all three charges brought against him.
The case has sent shockwaves through Belize’s evangelical community, which long regarded Hernandez as one of its most prominent and influential leaders. It also highlights the broader global reckoning over abuse of power in religious institutions, where leaders often hold unchecked authority over vulnerable community members seeking support. With this sentencing, the high-profile legal process has reached its conclusion, delivering a legal reckoning for the former leader who violated the trust placed in him by his community and his follower.