Church leader in child sex case dies

By Mary Manning

Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009 | noon

A 76-year-old man who claimed to be a prophet and faced multiple counts of sexual assault on minors has died under hospice care.

Attorney Mace Yampolsky today said his client, Benito Catello, died at 1:48 p.m. Monday at his home.

Catello had been in custody at an area hospital in July with guards by his bed, charged with 27 counts of sexual assault with a victim under 14 and two counts of lewdness with a minor under 14.

The District Attorney's Office had dropped an additional open and gross lewdness charge that had been filed while he was in custody.

Catello was arrested July 3 after two teenage girls told police they had sex with him in his home near Owens Avenue and Mount Hood Street in the northeast part of Las Vegas Valley.

Catello led a non-denominational Christian church called The Ministry from his home. Meetings mainly consisted of Bible study, Yampolsky said.

Catello had not denied the sexual encounters, according to arrest records. He allegedly told Metro Police that if he did have sexual interactions with minors, it was "because he was full of 'the spirit' and can't help what he does when he is full of the spirit."

Members, called "sheep," referred to Catello as "papa," police reports said.