By Shereen Siewert
Delfino R. O’Day-Figueroa was convicted by a jury in July following a three-day trial. Jurors deliberated for about three hours before finding him guilty of repeated sexual assault of the same child, involving at least three violations, according to online court records.
The girl at the center of the case described the man as “Pastor Ray” and said he was a leader at Song Nulife Gospel Oasis, a church that was located on Scott Street in the Landmark Building and held worship services on Saturday mornings for several years. Wausau Pilot & Review was unable to independently verify the suspect’s position at the former church at the time the story broke.
According to a criminal complaint, the young woman was unaware that the man is a lifetime sex offender registrant with a prior felony conviction for assaulting children, and said she believed he was a pastor there until roughly 2019.
The Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry shows O’Day-Figueroa, 53, was convicted in 1995 in Milwaukee County of second-degree sexual assault of a child. Online court records also show a 2008 conviction on fourth-degree sexual assault charges in Marathon County. He is also known by the name Delfino Figueroa.
The victim, now 18, spoke to police after O’Day-Figueroa approached her at a store where she worked as a clerk. She told investigators that the abuse began in 2014 and continued for several years and began after her father had medical issues and O’Day-Figueroa began coming to her home to help the family. The victim and several of her friends frequently stayed at O’Day-Figueroa’s home, where he lived with a woman he claimed was his wife, court documents state.
The victim’s father told police he stopped the visits after learning from a neighbor that O’Day-Figueroa was a sex offender.
On Nov. 3, prosecutors filed charges of repeated sexual assault of a child against O’Day-Figueroa. He was charged as a persistent repeater, because he was previously convicted of a serious child sex offense. Because of that factor, O’Day-Figueroa could be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
O’Day-Figueroa will be sentenced Sept. 5 by Circuit Judge Scott Corbett.
