Kentucky pastor who sexually abused teen girl draws GOP scrutiny
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A Northern Kentucky pastor and who recently pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a child has attracted national attention from Republicans in recent days.
Jose Luis Lopez-Hernandez, 52 of Covington, was arrested in October 2023 on one charge of first-degree sexual abuse. Lopez-Hernandez was a pastor at the Ministerio Jesus Liberta Church in Covington, where he abused an underage girl on the property earlier that year, according to court documents.
He pleaded guilty to the charge in February 2026, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors are recommending Lopez-Hernandez serve two years in prison and register as a sex offender for 20 years. He is also ordered to stay away from the victim and is not allowed to work as a pastor.
His lawyer has asked for Lopez-Hernandez to be released based on the time he has already served in prison — 862 days — which is longer than the recommended two-year sentence, the Enquirer reported.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed an arrest detainer on Lopez-Hernandez, according to court documents, which is a request from the federal agency to hold a suspected undocumented immigrant 48 hours longer than their scheduled release, so DHS can take them into custody.
Court documents do not mention where Lopez-Hernandez’s home country, or when he moved to Kentucky. Other information about his immigration status is not included in the documents, other than the ICE detainer. His arrest citation from 2023 lists a home address in Newport, and notes he is a full-time Kentucky resident.
But Lopez-Hernandez’s immigration status — and his lawyer’s request to be sentenced to time served — garnered the attention of several Republican leaders this week, including some who used the opportunity to highlight Gov. Andy Beshear’s previous comments about ICE.
The Department of Homeland Security posted on social media, calling Lopez-Hernandez a “monster” who used his role as a pastor to abuse a child.
“This criminal was previously released despite multiple criminal arrests,” the post said. “These are the types of heinous criminals ICE is targeting every single day.”
DHS’ post also targeted Beshear, who has previously made comments condemning the use of ICE to crack down on immigration nationwide.
“Every ICE agent should be withdrawn from every city and every community that they’re in,” Beshear said on the The View in February. “This organization has to be reformed from the top down.”
Instead of criticizing ICE, the post from DHS said, Beshear should work with law enforcement to remove undocumented immigrants from the country.
In response to that post, the Republican Party of Kentucky also referenced Beshear’s comments about ICE, saying he would “rather demonize ICE and let these monsters terrorize innocent Kentuckians without consequence.”
The case is the second from Kentucky in recent weeks to capture the attention of federal officials. In April, DHS posted on social media about Jorge Luis Martinez Ulloa, a 31-year-old Honduran man who has been charged with kidnapping and raping a child in his Lexington apartment.
According to DHS, Martinez Ulloa entered the U.S illegally five times before his arrest this year. The department also placed an ICE detainer on him and posted on social media urging Lexington police to keep him in custody.