OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Elmer Baca Flores, a pastor who ran a church out of his Oklahoma City-area home, has been sentenced to 30 years in state prison after an Oklahoma County District Court conviction for human trafficking for labor, lewd acts with a child and sexual battery.
State narcotics agents, who also work trafficking cases, say no one in Oklahoma had been convicted of forced labor trafficking before this case. The conviction and the sentence both came on Nov. 3, and the sentence also requires him to register as a sex offender and calls for his deportation.
The investigation began in early 2025, after families from the congregation said Flores pushed them to give up their jobs and their own homes and to live under his roof, in the house that doubled as his church. State agents then interviewed several of the victims.
According to the bureau, victims said they worked for Flores without pay, that he threatened to hurt them if they tried to leave and that he claimed ties to the MS-13 gang. Agents said he used his role as pastor to pressure members through their faith.
Flores was first arrested in April 2025 by the Oklahoma City Police Department, which booked him on counts of lewd acts with a child. In October 2025, the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office added human trafficking for labor and sexual battery counts to the case.
Bureau Director Donnie Anderson credited the unit and the district attorney’s office and praised the victims for coming forward.
Prosecutors filed more charges against Flores in January 2026. The bureau says his arrest also led the district attorney’s office to bring human trafficking charges against eight other adults, and those cases are separate from his.
Section: More Oklahoma City OK crime news
Filed under: Oklahoma City OK Crime News