Former church worker accused of sexual abuse pleads not guilty in Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin – A former Cincinnati church employee pleaded not guilty in a Milwaukee, Wisconsin courtroom Tuesday afternoon.

Marco Melendez worked as music director for the Queen of Apostles Parish Family from February until he was indicted in Wisconsin on June 25. Father Alex McCullough, pastor of the parish family, said in a letter to parishioners that Melendez was no longer employed by the parish as of June 25.

Melendez is charged with two counts of child enticement and one count of third-degree sexual assault. The charges relate to acts that occurred in Milwaukee between 2016 and 2019 while he was director of the Milwaukee Children’s Choir. The alleged victim was a member of that choir when the acts of alleged solicitation and sexual abuse occurred, according to court records.

Queen of Apostles Parish in Cincinnati includes Our Lady of the Valley, Our Lady of the Rosary and St. James of the Valley, according to the parish website.

According to McCullough’s letter, Melendez went through all of the archdiocese’s child protection requirements, including a criminal background check, and had no prior charges or convictions at the time of his hiring in February.

McCullough wrote that he was not aware of any allegations of criminal activity made against Melendez during his time at Queen of Apostles Parish.

According to court documents filed in Wisconsin, the alleged victim spoke to police in May.

The victim told police that when he was a minor, his parents sent him to the Milwaukee Children’s Choir, whose conductor was Marco Melendez, according to court documents. The alleged victim said Melendez made inappropriate comments to the boys in the choir, including saying he “made out with boys” and asking the boys about their sex lives, court documents say.

In 2016, Melendez took the alleged victims and other boys from the choir to a movie; on another occasion, Melendez texted the alleged victim to invite him to the movies and also picked him up from his home, according to court documents.

Former Cincinnati parish worker charged with sexual abuse and sexual solicitation in Wisconsin

“During the journey, the defendant pressed the back of his hand against the alleged victim’s crotch and acted as if he was reaching for a drink,” the document states. The alleged victim “estimated that the defendant picked him up and carried him to his residence approximately 100 times, and 80 of those times the defendant touched his crotch during the journey.”

From then on, Melendez began inviting the alleged victim to his home to watch movies, where he served the boy “numerous mixed drinks, including Manhattans, Old Fashioneds and Kamikazes. The groping of the crotch continued here as well,” the court document states.

In 2017, when the alleged victim was a minor, he told police Melendez offered to perform sexual acts on him, documents state. The document goes on to say Melendez grabbed the alleged victim’s crotch both above and below his pants. He told police he was going to wear a “really tight belt and squirm away,” but Melendez just laughed and told him to stop, the court document says.

In another case from 2017, the document describes further sexual allegations against Melendez in which he touched the alleged victim while partially naked.

The alleged victim “described not wanting to participate and then texting his mother to pick him up from the defendant’s house,” the document states.

The alleged victim left the choir sometime in 2017 but told police that Melendez would continue to pick him up until June 2018, when Melendez moved out of state, the document states. However, in April 2019, Melendez moved back to the same area in Milwaukee, the document states.

In another case from 2019, when the alleged victim was an adult, he claimed that Melendez sexually assaulted him after he and a friend served alcohol at Melendez’s home.

According to court documents, the alleged victim participated in a police-mediated phone call on May 9 in which she called Melendez and asked him to apologize for many of the allegations made in court documents. Melendez admitted in the phone call to giving the alleged victim and “other individuals” alcohol, but said he could not recall any of the specific allegations of sexual harassment.

“Ahhh, I honestly don’t remember any of that,” Melendez said, according to the document. “The defendant then stated he didn’t say (the alleged victim) was lying, but the defendant just doesn’t remember.”

Police spoke with another person who was a member of the Milwaukee Children’s Choir at the same time the allegations were made, the document states. That person told police Melendez often talked about sex with members of the choir, including at his home, where he served alcohol to several underage members, the document states.

“(He) believes the defendant was attempting to normalize talking about sex in a normal conversation,” the document states.

That person claimed Melendez also sent text messages to choir members in a group chat, the document said.

The second person does not allege that Melendez sexually abused him in any way, but told police he was served alcohol and at one point in Melendez’s home he witnessed Melendez ordering the alleged victim to undress, which he then did, the document states. The second person also said the alleged victim told him about the alleged sexual assault in 2019, during which another friend was present.

According to court documents, if convicted on all three counts, Melendez could face a maximum sentence of 60 years in prison.