A Jehovah’s Witnesses elder was sentenced to at least 25 years in prison for raping two teenage sisters in his congregation.

Oscar Omar Osorto Sr., 47, of Liberty was convicted and sentenced Wednesday for sexual assault charges including statutory rape and attempted rape of a child.

Osorto abused the girls, now 16 and 17, from 2000 to 2004, telling their mother he would take them out to eat, but then raping them in the Siler City congregation’s Kingdom Hall, his car and possibly other places, prosecutors said. He was arrested in July 2004 and was released on $50,000 bail a few days later.

A third sister also accused Osorto of abuse, but no charges were filed.

Osorto was one of several elders in the church’s Spanish-language congregation until last year when he was disfellowshipped after the rape allegations surfaced, according to court records.

The victims’ mother said she was a single parent of four children who turned to Osorto for help and advice.

“Just the thought that he was viewed as a good person, a family friend, killed me inside, because he was not what people thought he was,” one of the girls wrote in a statement read by prosecutor Kayley Taber before sentencing.

Based on Associated Press and The News & Observer articles