OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A former western Iowa pastor already charged in Nebraska with sexually assaulting two children has, along with his wife, been charged with an additional count of witness tampering. The Omaha World-Herald reports that 44-year-old Emanuel Rodriguez and 42-year-old Veronica Rodriguez were arrested this week. Police say Emanuel Rodriguez called his wife from jail after his arrest earlier this month on the sexual assault counts and told her to contact the mothers of the two girls. Victoria Rodriguez later told her jailed husband that she said she had sent text messages to the girls’ mothers saying her husband “had lost his whole career in the ministry” because of the accusations.

Police say Emanuel Rodriguez fondled two prepubescent girls between 2017 and May 2019 at two Omaha homes previously owned by Rodriguez. Rodriguez was the pastor at Calvary Assembly of God Church in Council Bluffs, Iowa, at the time of his arrest.