WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette
By Gary V. Murray TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
gmurray@telegram.com
WORCESTER — Claiming ineffective assistance of counsel, a former church pastor convicted of having sex with a 14-year-old girl is asking that he be granted a new trial.
The Rev. Angel Morales, 34, onetime pastor of the Casa de Restauracion church at 134 Spruce St. in Leominster, was sentenced to 10 to 12 years in state prison last year after being found guilty in Worcester Superior Court of two counts of child rape aggravated by age difference.
The jury acquitted Rev. Morales on a third count.
The victim, whose family attended Rev. Morales’ church, testified at his February 2011 trial that she and her pastor engaged in sexual intercourse three times in late 2009 and early 2010 when she was 14 years old.
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