NORTH CAROLINA
Winston-Salem Journal

Cameron Steele/Charlotte Observer

A former youth pastor at a Huntersville church was convicted of child sex crimes by a Mecklenburg County jury Thursday.

Thaddeus Stephen MacMoran, 27, was found guilty for a statutory sex offense against a person either 13, 14 or 15 years old, a crime against nature and four counts of taking indecent liberties with a child.

MacMoran was a student ministry volunteer with the Lake Forest Church teen ministry. But a spokesperson for Lake Forest Church said the crimes occurred at another church, before MacMoran became a volunteer at Lake Forest.

The jury convicted MacMoran after a three-day trial, and Superior Court Judge Forrest D. Bridges sentenced him to serve between 222 and 276 months in prison.