A woman is speaking out after a former pastor who formerly worked as a Spanish campus pastor for Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, VA was charged with stalking her and breaking into her home. Marie Columna, 43, first met Sergio Guardia, 49, in 2007 when she was first married and began attending his Spanish language services. In 2011, she separated from her husband and Guardia reached out to encourage her to return to church. “He was supportive of me being separated from my husband, but he was telling me that I shouldn’t be talking to men after church or in the church. He saw how many male friends I had on Facebook and told me to delete and block them,” she said.

Guardia continued to check in on Columna after her divorce was finalized in 2015, sometimes showing up with groceries despite not being asked and visiting randomly. Despite being told his visits made Columna “uncomfortable,” Guardia continued to show up. “At times, I would pull up to my house, and he was already on my steps. It felt like there was no way of getting away from him,” she recalled. Eventually, Columna claims that Guardia confessed that he was in love with her. She, however, informed him she had no interest in him. Despite this admission, Guardia allegedly persisted in seeking a relationship, forcing Columna to move several times in an attempt to get away from him.

Despite Guardia’s harassment, Columna was too afraid to report him to authorities. “He’s not just a pastor, he’s a pastor at Thomas Road Baptist Church, a powerful and wealthy church. I didn’t believe I had any power against him, especially with no evidence,” she said. She did, however, claim she brought up his behavior to Thomas Road Baptist, but “nothing was ever done about it.” She left the church in 2016.

The situation escalated in 2023 when Columna received a notification from her home security system. “I was out of state with my children visiting a friend, and I got a notification on my phone that a person was in my house,” she said of footage caught on November 10, 2023. The footage revealed Guardia walking around inside her house at 11:30pm. Columna said he looked as if he had been in there before. Columna informed police and made plans to make a report when she returned to town. While she was still away, Columna got another notification the next day and found video footage of Guardia in the basement, where her 17-year-old daughter sleeps. Columna informed police, who checked the house but were unable to locate Guardia on the property. After Columna positively identified him, he was arrested and charged with two counts of felony breaking and entering, and one misdemeanor count of stalking. A Virginia judge also issued an order of protection for Columna and her two children from Guardia. Guardia was found guilty of all charges in early March. His sentencing is set for August 20^th, with the possibility of receiving 10 years in prison. The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), Guardia’s most recent employer, released a statement, saying, “Sergio Guardia is no longer employed by the SBC of Virginia. He resigned in November. We have been made aware that he is dealing with legal matters, and because of the legalities involved we have no further comment. We continue to pray for the Guardia family during this time.” Thomas Road Baptist Church has not responded to any requests for comment.