DENVER (AP) — A judge has sentenced a pastor at a Denver church to two years in jail after she pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl for more than three years.
The Denver Post reports that 36-year-old Erika Gonzalez received the maximum possible sentence Thursday.
Gonzalez met the girl in 2015 after she started attending the Christian church where Gonzalez was the pastor, prosecutors said.
Gonzalez convinced the teen to drop out of school and move in with her to help her develop her faith but instead regulated her to a household servant and made multiple sexual advances, prosecutors said.
Gonzalez told police the relationship was consensual but it is illegal under state law for someone of her age to have a sexual relationship with a minor, authorities said.
Gonzalez continued to lead church services even after the teen left the church and authorities began an investigation, prosecutors said.
The Associated Press does not name victims of sexual violence.