2023
READERS’ CHOICE
Sugar Land Memorial Day Ceremony - Page 4
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WEDNESDAY • MAY 29, 2024
Stafford pastor sentenced to year in prison for indecent assault Staff Reports A Fort Bend County jury has convicted a pastor of a Stafford church of indecent assault for inappropriately touching a young woman in 2021, according to a news release from the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office. Gregorio Maldonado, 46, of Katy, was sentenced to one year in county jail and fined $4,000 for inappropriately touching a young woman in 2021.
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Sugar Land, other entities grapple with public comment in wake of Middle East conflict By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
For several months, week after week, they came before Sugar Land City Council. During the public comment section at the beginning of each meeting, people passionately called for the Council to pass a resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and the group called Hamas in Gaza. And for all of those weeks, the Council members sat silently during the remarks. That is, until May 7, when Mayor Joe Zimmerman
opened the public comments portion of the meeting with an announcement: people who began speaking on matters that were not directly related to matters on the agenda would be asked to stop. If they continued, the mayor said, they would be escorted out. If they resisted leaving, they would be arrested. Most, but not all, of the speakers, have been ArabAmerican or Muslims. On at least two occasions, they were countered by speakers who defended the actions of Israel in the conflict or said that the dire foreign-affairs situation
was outside the purview of Sugar Land’s City Council. Many of the speakers told harrowing stories of loved ones who are stuck in Gaza as the war, which was sparked by the Hamas attack of October 7 which took the lives of more than 1,000 Israelis and the kidnapping of many others, continued. Thousands of Palestinian civilians, including women and children, have been killed during the conflict while several international attempts at achieving a ceasefire have failed.
SEE CONFLICT PAGE 2
Sugar Land police officers flank a woman who continues to speak on the Israel/Hams conflict after being admonished not to by Mayor Joe Zimmerman. Photo by Ken Fountain
Sugar Land pays tribute to the fallen at Memorial Day event See pages 4-5 for more photos from the event
Gregorio Maldonado, 46, of Katy, was sentenced to one year in prison for inappropriately touching a young woman at the Stafford church he pastored. Courtesy Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office
According to lead prosecutor Michelle Anderson, Maldonado’s victim was a member of the Stafford church he pastored. The victim and her family lived with the defendant at the Katy residence where the offense took place. On November 9, 2021, after everyone was asleep, Maldonado snuck into the victim’s bed, began to touch her inappropriately and make her touch him. The victim was afraid to make an initial outcry due to the defendant’s position in the church and his status in her family, according to the release. Eventually, in January 2022, the victim told her father about the assault which led to a confrontation between Maldonado and the victim’s family. This confrontation was recorded by the victim’s father, In the recording, Maldonado apologized to the woman, said he could not remember what happened, and stated if anything happened “the devil” made him do it, according to the release. At the close of trial, the defendant brought with him over one hundred members of his church. The young woman he victimized provided a victim impact statement where she addressed the defendant and those in the courtroom. She thanked those church members in attendance who prayed for justice as justice had indeed been done.
SEE ASSAULT PAGE 2
Members of Boy Scout Troops 731 and 1731 post the colors at the start of Sugar Land’s Memorial Day celebration at Memorial Park on Monday. Photos by Ken Fountain
By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Despite stifling temperatures and a thick layer of ozone-induced haze, hundreds of people from around the area turned out Monday at Sugar Land’s Memorial Park to pay homage to fallen U.S. service members at the city’s annual Memorial Day festivities. The event, one of the largest in the Fort Bend County region, is one of the area’s signature events kicking off the summer season. But the event was replete with sober reminders of the meaning of the holiday, which pays tribute to members of all of the nation’s armed services who have lost their lives in the line of duty. Veterans from various branches, including members of several area veterans groups, along with their family members and those
of fallen service members were joined by residents with no direct connection to the military under the park’s large pavilion to take in the ceremony. Members of Boy Scout Troops 731 and 1731, both boys and girls, presented the colors during the event and laid wreaths honoring particular service members. Retired U.S. Army Brig. Gen. David Van Kleeck served as the master of ceremonies of the event. At one point during the ceremony, he movingly read the famous war poem “In Flanders Fields,” written by John McCrae, a Canadian physician who served in World War II, in remembrance of a friend who had been killed in battle. McCrae himself died of pneumonia near the end of that war.
SEE TRIBUTE PAGE 2
U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Anthony Woods, commanding general of the Texas State Guard, acts as main speaker during the Sugar Land Memorial Day celebration.