By Mark A. Kellner

 After being arrested on multiple felony charges in April, David Lee Helbling pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 years-to-life in prison. (Photo: Riverside County Sheriff’s Department)

Note: This story contains details about child sexual abuse.

A former California Assemblies of God pastor was sentenced June 5 to 10 years-to-life in prison for sexually assaulting a child more than 65 years younger than him. 

David Lee Helbling, 81, pleaded guilty in April to kidnapping to commit rape as well as to lewd acts on a child under 14, the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin reported.

The pleas were entered under a pretrial agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. In exchange for his admissions, prosecutors dropped four related charges, media reports indicated.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Arthur Bocanegra certified the terms of the plea deal during a hearing at the Riverside Hall of Justice. The judge imposed the sentence stipulated by the prosecution and the defense, City News Service reported.

The Daily Bulletin identified the victim as a female and court documents identified her only as “E.A.,” according to City News Service. No other details about the victim were disclosed, including her relationship to Helbling.The Blessing Center First Assembly of God in Moreno Valley, California. (Photo: Google Maps)

Sheriff’s Sgt. Robert Martinez said deputies were informed in late January 2024 of an attack on the victim in the 23000 block of Hemlock Avenue in Moreno Valley. Court papers indicated Helbling committed all the offenses on the same day: Jan. 30, 2024. 

Helbling kidnapped the girl, “and the movement of the victim substantially increased the risk of harm,” she incurred, the criminal complaint stated, according to City News Service.

“The defendant resided in the same home and had recurring access (to her) with the intent of arousing, appealing to and gratifying (his) lust, passions and sexual desires,” the complaint stated.

Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched about 2:30 p.m. that same day to reports of a past sexual assault involving a child, CBS Los Angeles reported. While investigating, detectives learned the juvenile victim had been assaulted by a local pastor, identified as Helbling, then 79.

Deputies arrested Helbling on Feb. 14, 2024, while serving a search warrant at the Moreno Valley property, according to CBS. “During the service of the search warrant, evidence related to the crime was collected, and Helbling was taken into custody without incident,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement, which is no longer posted online.

Helbling served as a pastor at The Blessing Center First Assembly of God in Moreno Valley, RR reported in February 2024. 

Helbling initially faced charges including a forcible lewd act with a child under 14 and oral copulation or sexual penetration with a child under 10. Court records also listed counts of committing three or more lewd acts with a child under 14 and kidnapping a child under 14.

RR’s initial article noted videos posted on the church’s Facebook page showing Helbling preaching or leading prayer in 2020 and 2022.

Helbling had no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County, City News Service reported. The sentencing came more than two years after his arrest.

Mark A. Kellner is a reporter based in Mesquite, Nevada. He most recently covered statewide elections for the New York Post and was for three years the Faith & Family Reporter for The Washington Times. Mark is a graduate of the University of the Cumberlands and also attended Boston University’s College of Communication.

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