Nearly six months after his arrest, Pastor Ashley James Crouse of New Vision Baptist Fellowship in Granite Falls, North Carolina, has been federally charged with receipt of child pornography.
Ashley James Crouse / Photo courtesy of Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office
The charge, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years, comes on top of four state counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and four counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor.
Police records indicate Crouse’s photo collection, which spanned multiple devices in his office and home and included more than 10,000 images, depicted children under 10 years old engaged in sexual activity.
Crouse, 52, was arrested Nov. 3 on a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
A Dropbox account containing child pornography had been traced to Crouse’s name, email address and IP address, leading the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office and North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation to execute search warrants on his home and church office and confiscate several devices.
According to ChurchLeaders, an affidavit signed by FBI Special Agent Richard A. Sutherland Jr. to establish probable cause said that on Nov. 2, Crouse “knowingly received child pornography…specifically by using the Internet to download to his computer a video file depicting child pornography.”
The affidavit went on to detail a specific video Crouse accessed from his “pastor” account.
After the warrant was served, two church officers of NVBF told investigators they hadn’t seen the inside of Crouse’s office in months and explained he had begun locking his door any time he left his office, even to use the bathroom.
According to Sutherland, Crouse waived his Miranda rights and confessed to the crime.
“During this interview, which was recorded, CROUSE admitted to knowing what child pornography was, to obtaining child pornography from the Internet, and to using child pornography for sexual gratification,” Sutherland said. “CROUSE also admitted to viewing child pornography at the church while multi-tasking and completing church business on his church computer.”
As of April 26, Crouse was still being held at the Caldwell County Detention Center in Charlotte and was expected to appear in court May 1.
NVBF, which is listed in the Southern Baptist Convention’s database, said it fired Crouse after his arrest.
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