California teen was raped in her church bathroom, police say

HANFORD, Calif. -- Crispin Ricablanca, 19, is accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl in the woman's bathroom at Koinonia Church in Hanford, Calif., according to Hanford Police. She told an adult about the assault, police said.

RELATED: Hanford PD investigates possible rape of a teen girl at Koinonia Church vacation bible camp

Pastor Tim Howard said both teens were volunteers at the church's vacation Bible school, and the alleged assault happened after school had ended for the day.

Howard said he'll be addressing the incident in a letter to church members and during services on Sunday.

He learned of the allegations a few days after Bible school had ended.

"I want them to know that our safety procedures are a high standard and (we) are committed to taking care of our kids," Howard said. "And (I) just want to give them feedback from our vantage point, so they won't just draw conclusions on their own from what they hear."

Howard said the church is cooperating with Hanford Police's investigation and looking into the matter on its own to understand what happened and determine whether any procedures need to change.

He said staff members have been in contact with both the victim and the suspect, and the church is offering support to both of their families.

"Obviously, it's a heart-wrenching thing to hear about and I want to get to the bottom of the facts," Howard said. "But I want to help them as much as possible to process and walk through this together. So we're open to doing that and are trying to do that to the best of our ability."

Ricablanca's bail is set at $775,000.

The Kings County District Attorney's Office has not yet filed charges.