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Pastor convicted of sexually abusing boys
GOSHEN – The former pastor of the Newburgh Church of God was convicted by an Orange County Court jury late Friday on all counts of an indictment that charged him of abusing three young boys over a two year period.

The jury deliberated for 2½ hours before finding Humberto Cruz, 39, guilty of all the charges against him, the most serious of which was course of sexual conduct against a child in the first degree, said District Attorney Frank Phillips.

Those charges stem from contact with two boys who were under the age of 13 during the time of the abuse from July 2004 through July 2006, said Phillips....

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Former minister gets 4 life sentences for child sex crimes
The local minister arrested in October for sexually abusing and sodomizing four boys pleaded guilty to the allegations Friday and will now spend the rest of his life in prison.

Ralph Lee Aaron, 54, was the pastor of Grace Christian Fellowship in Andalusia before being terminated from the position shortly after his arrest.

District Attorney Greg Gambril said Aaron appeared “remorseful” as he pleaded before Judge Frank “Trippy” McGuire to one count of first-degree sodomy and three counts of production of obscene matter involving a child under 17. For each of those counts, Aaron received one life sentence, and the time will run consecutively.

“Which means that unless the law changes, Ralph Aaron will never get out of prison,” Gambril said. “Because of his misdeeds, he will never be eligible for parole and he will die in prison. This deal is essentially one life sentence for each of his victims.”...