CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — A former Caldwell County pastor was sentenced to 10 years in prison Thursday after being convicted for possessing child pornography.
According to court documents from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, in April 2023, law enforcement identified a Dropbox account belonging to 53-year-old Ashley Crouse, then a pastor at a church in Caldwell County, had videos containing child sexual abuse material.
On Nov. 3, 2023, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Crouse’s Granite Falls home and the church. From Crouse’s office at New Vision Baptist Church, detectives seized a computer tower, an iPad, and two USB drives. Crouse reportedly admitted to law enforcement officers that he had been downloading and collecting child pornography for five to six years and that he viewed the materials at the church while he was also completing church business.
The investigation determined that Crouse routinely used his computer at the church to access, view, and download the material. A forensic examination of his church computer and other devices revealed that Crouse shared the child pornography and links to it through the Telegram application and that he had used AI and a software program to make child and other pornography.
In total, Crouse was accused of possessing more than 1,200 videos and 450 images depicting the sexual abuse of children.
Also on the church computer, the investigation revealed that Crouse maintained a book that outlines in detail how to sexually abuse children. The forensic examiner further found evidence that Crouse had installed an anti-forensic software program on his church computer which he used to permanently delete files and folders.
On Aug. 21, 2024, Crouse pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography that involved a minor who had not attained the age of 12 years, and receipt of child pornography.
Crouse remains in federal custody. He will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. He was also ordered to register as a sex offender after he is released.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimlani Ford of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.
