Former pastor in Georgia accused of sexually assaulting girl on Africa trip, feds say

A former Orthodox Presbyterian minister in Georgia faces up to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting a girl while he was on a mission trip to Africa, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Eric Tuininga, 44, of Milledgeville, was charged with “engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places,” DOJ officials said in a news release.

The girl was 14 at the time the offense occurred in 2019, officials said.

Tuininga will be sentenced May 3 and he faces “a maximum of 30 years in prison” and up to $250,000 in fines, officials said. The federal system does not offer a chance of parole, officials said.

“Tuininga was supposed to be someone that could be trusted, but instead he abused that trust and victimized a child,” Special Agent in Charge Katrina W. Berger said in the release.

The investigation began in June 2019, when a U.S. citizen contacted the U.S. Embassy in Kampala, Uganda, and reported Tuininga “was having sex with Ugandan female minors as young as 14-years-old,” federal officials said.

He was working with a group of ministers in Mbale, Uganda, as part of an organization “affiliated with the U.S.-based Orthodox Presbyterian Church,” officials said. The girl was under the care of the ministry, officials said.

Investigators say the U.S. citizen who made the accusation was also affiliated with the ministry in Mbale.

Tuininga had already returned to the United States when the accusation was made, prompting the Department of Homeland Security and Homeland Security Investigations to become involved, officials said.

“Federal agents identified a Ugandan minor who was 14-years-old in March 2019 when Tuininga had sex with her as he was working as a pastor,” officials said.

“Tuininga now admits that he came to know the victim in his capacity as a religious leader and that the victim would often visit the OPC church, including a religious compound, overseen by Tuininga. Tuininga also now admits that he engaged in illicit sexual conduct with the child,” officials said in the release.

This story was originally published February 2, 2022 at 2:12 PM with the headline "Former pastor in Georgia accused of sexually assaulting girl on Africa trip, feds say."