Caldwell County Pastor Gets 10 Years In Child Sexual Abuse Case

The Granite Falls pastor found to have more than 10,000 images of child sexual abuse across multiple devices – including his church computer – has been sentenced to prison.
Ashley James Crouse was first arrested on Nov. 3, 2023, following an investigation based off a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Crouse will spend the next 10 years in prison and will be under supervised release as a sex offender for the rest of his life after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography that involved a minor who had not attained the age of 12 years, and receipt of child pornography.

Deputies with the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office and investigators with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation searched Crouse’s home and New Vision Baptist Fellowship on Nov. 3, 2023.

Crouse admitted to downloading child sexual abuse materials for five or six years and watched it on his church computer while multi-tasking and completing church business. The computer also had a downloaded book detailing how to sexually abuse children, according to court documents.

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