A former Caldwell County pastor who was arrested in 2023 on charges of possessing child pornography has been sentenced to 10 years in prison and a lifetime of supervision after his release.
Ashley James Crouse, 53, of Granite Falls, North Carolina, was sentenced to 120 months in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for possession and receipt of child sexual abuse material, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina announced on Feb. 13. Crouse was also ordered to register as a sex offender after he is released from prison.
Tip leads to arrest
Crouse was arrested in November 2023 following an investigation based on a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that came in April 2023. The tip said that a Dropbox account user had uploaded videos containing child sexual abuse material. Investigators determined that the Dropbox account user was Crouse.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Chad Austin and originally published by the Biblical Recorder.
