BURKE COUNTY, N.C. — A former youth pastor and kindergarten teacher in Morganton has been arrested for a second time this week.
Aaron Mirtsching appeared before a judge Friday morning. He’s now charged with nearly a dozen counts of felony indecent liberties with a child.
Sheriff’s deputies are releasing few details about the case but did tell Channel 9′s Dave Faherty they learned of new allegations after Mirtsching’s initial arrest Tuesday.
He was first charged with three counts of third-degree sexual exploitation with a minor on Tuesday evening. The arrest warrants say he’s accused of possessing images depicting sexual abuse of children between the ages of 8 and 10.
Until this summer, Mirtsching worked at New Dimensions Charter School in Morganton. He also worked as a youth pastor at Thrive Church, but was fired after they learned of the arrest.
The church released a statement Friday saying in part, “We are stunned, heartbroken, betrayed and took immediate action to terminate him days ago when the first charges filed.”
Investigators said on Thursday, they received an additional report involving someone under the age of 16. That led to 10 counts of indecent liberties with a child.
The senior pastor at Thrive Church said they’ve never had anyone report any allegations or behavior issues involving Mirtsching.
“Not knowing exactly what it entailed in that moment -- I still don’t know all the details, but -- shocked. Shocked,” Paul Kidd said. “Not only was he an employee, he was also a friend.”
The school said it is cooperating with authorities and has not been made aware of any circumstances connected to New Dimensions.
The full statement from Thrive Church is below:
“We are stunned, heartbroken, betrayed and took immediate action to terminate him days ago when the first charges were filed.
“To date, the church or Senior Leadership Team has never had anyone report internally the first accusation or even an implied accusation of malfeasance concerning any behavior or issue from the former employee regarding any incident involving the church.
“Once again, we stand with the victims in this case and pray continuously for them. We are so thankful for law enforcement shining a light on evil and pray that justice is complete and strong.”
(WATCH BELOW: Convicted sex offender, local pastor charged with more crimes against children)
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